Deadly Class, Volume 8: Never Go Back by Rick Remender – Comic Book Review

Deadly Class, Volume 8: Never Go Back by Rick Remender - Comic Book

Deadly Class, a comic series with one of the most unbelievable storylines and some of the most downright unlikeable protagonists of all time, kicks off its eighth volume, Never Go Back, with an unusual opening: a lenghty drug trip.

Pls, Don’t Mess With Me, Mr. Remender!

If your protagonist is unreliable, unpredictable, unstable, a chronic backstabber, and endlessly whiny, a drug-induced hallucination is probably the last thing that will make them more relatable to your readers. Drug trips are like listening to someone describe their dreams in excruciating detail: nobody gives a damn except the dreamer. In fact, the more they share, the more irritating it becomes.

The entire first quarter of Never Go Back, which corresponds to issue 36, might as well be flushed down the toilet as a complete waste of ink.

Of course, if only a quarter of Never Go Back were just wasted space, you could count yourself lucky…

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Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Book Review

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Book Cover

Tamsyn Muir has taken a step forward from her debut Gideon the Ninth, which was extremely promising but quickly descended into childishness. Its sequel, Harrow the Ninth, managed to shed some of its growing pains but in return became utterly incomprehensible. With Nona the Ninth, the Australian author continues her utterly unique sci-fi fantasy series that propels necromancy into space. But it feels like a few things in this part aren’t COMPLETELY clear either. For example:

Who, where, and what?

Oh, and why?

Let’s start with the easiest question: “Where?”

Both of the first two parts were set in pretty confined locations. Even though Tamsyn Muir’s universe opens up wide, the author—who exclusively moves necromancers, otherworldly monsters, and skeletons around—shoved them all into one single place. Nona the Ninth finally steps out into the world of humans.

This fixes one of the biggest shortcomings of the first two parts. Sure, it’s fine that the omnipotent emperor of the universe rules everything through necromancy, but wouldn’t it be even more interesting to know how that affects ordinary people? Spoiler: Not well, by the way. Not well at all.

And the answer to “Where?” is: in the city of Who-The-Heck-Knows on the planet God-Knows-Where. Or somewhere like that.

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Deadly Class, Volume 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender – Graphic Novel Review

Deadly Class, Volume 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender - Comic Book Cover

A Dysfunctional Class Community…

You definitely wouldn’t want to attend a school like this, where the world’s deadliest assassins are trained under the leadership of Master Lin, who looks like a 157-year-old shriveled-up vegetable. Why not? Because at this school, most students would make better targets than pupils. From the offspring of Stalin’s assassin to simple gangster wannabes and the children of drug dealers, all the way to descendants of CIA and FBI agents (Seriously? Shouldn’t they be in some sort of law enforcement academy instead?!), they all follow the deadly curriculum of the Assassin’s Class in peaceful discord.

On top of that, they form cliques within the school (black gangsters, drug-affiliated gangsters, racists, slightly-less-racists, Yakuza friends etc.). It’s like something out of a romantic young adult novel or a teen soap opera: the basic premise is a bit questionable, and it strongly reeks of one of the most unpleasant young adult trends of the 2000s—the one where all sorts of mismatched creatures are thrown together in the same educational institution, from vampires to werewolves.

On his first day, the new student is even sent out into the city to kill for educational purposes, so there’s a bit of inconsistency in the curriculum too…

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Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill – Gabriel Rodriguez – Comic Book Review

Overflowing Imagination and Gothic Horror

If, like the author of these lines, you’ve never been a big comic book fan, Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez’s volume is the best way to change your attitude. Don’t worry, there’s no superhero nonsense here; despite the everyday protagonists, the main feature of the illustrated pages of Locke & Key is the overflowing imagination – where teenagers’ struggles to fit in and their romantic troubles are elegantly accompanied by thriller, gothic horror, and surrealism.

Although at the beginning you might feel like you’ve signed up for a teenage story (after all, the main characters are teenagers), and the scheming villain who almost laid all his cards on the table in the previous part isn’t nearly as frightening, you’ll soon be shaken out of your complacency by the captivating “shadow” section. Yes, Zack Wells still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Locke & Key is an Exceptional Experience

Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill - Gabriel Rodriguez grapic novel cover

And although there are repetitions in the second part of Locke & Key (if someone comes up with some information, you can bet it’ll be dealt with soon), thus reducing the excitement factor a bit, the absurd ideas, the variety of the Locke family’s keys, and the astonishing twists guarantee an above-average experience.

Especially if the illustration switches to “Tintin” style for a few pages. Okay, maybe not. Besides making you wonder what the point of that is, it probably doesn’t have much point. Unlike the comic book cover within the comic, which doesn’t hesitate to punish with a brutal spoiler!

Brutally Exciting – Joe Hill Shocks You by the End

Did I say something about the excitement factor? Oh yes, the second part of Locke & Key becomes much more thrilling by the end. Can you imagine that? Getting excited over a comic book? Absolutely, when the investigation kicks in, the pieces start to come together, and our heroes race against time – with a cunning bastard as their opponent. And it ends with a nice little cliffhanger in your face. But one that really makes you think: there is no justice in this world.

Rating: 8.1/10

Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume Two by Joe Hill – Gabriel Rodriguez
312 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2016 by IDW Publishing

(Master Edition, Volume Two collects Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows (#1-6), Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom (#1-6))

Review of the previous volume:
Locke & Key: Master Edition, Volume One

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang – Book – Review

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang - Book - Cover

China a few thousand years ahead in the future? In a military academy-style fantasy? Sort of. Mythical emperors, superhuman warlords, shamanism? Yes, in the second half of The Poppy War. In the first half, you’re at school. The characters are teenagers, so it’s young adult fantasy, but fortunately, it SEEMS to be of the better kind.

Rivalries, a jerk of a teacher, and rotten classmates, all checked, but nothing’s overdone. The focus is on training: martial arts, tactics, strategy, and the like. Love and sex at ZERO level. It’s not that R. F. Kuang is prudish, but both are completely absent, as if nobody had ever heard of them. The strongest emotion between characters is lukewarm friendship. So, those of romantic disposition will struggle with a strong sense of lack.

Some very cautious criticism of the system can also be observed from R. F. Kuang regarding present-day China: if you strive for excessive uniformity in everything, you give up a lot of useful things. In the case of The Poppy War, this useful thing is shamanism.

In the second half of the book, the tiny Mugen Federation (exerting strong Japanese influence) attacks the mighty Nikan (China) for the third time within a few decades. And R. F. Kuang’s story collapses in on itself. Numerous mythical creatures emerge, a bunch of shamans, lots of hysteria and sensitivity break out, and Kuang, who previously constantly alluded to every strategist’s grandfather, Sun Tzu, is unable to describe a military maneuver without it being childishly simple.

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City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – Book Review

City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty - Book cover

Cairo. The late 18th century. Nahri, a young girl who makes a living by swindling people and using her healing abilities, is struggling to make ends meet despite this combination. She doesn’t even believe in magic. Then, by accident, she summons a djinn! Of course, the djinn is furious. To calm him down, Nahri must accompany him to the City of Brass. The City of Brass is hidden in the middle of the desert, completely camouflaged—good luck finding it, even with Google Maps.

Nahri and Dara (the djinn) head eastward, bickering along the way. They quarrel, make up, and repeatedly sabotage their own journey—Nahri is particularly adept at this. They also face numerous threats trying to devour them. This adventure is framed by Eastern mythology and folklore, offering an unusual flavor to readers accustomed to Western-style fantasy. However, some creatures from Arabic lore appear almost laughably fairy-tale-like, such as the twelve-eyed, gluttonous giant pigeon (imagine how much stew you could make from that!).

Fairy-tale elements are fine within their own context, like in the Arabian Nights, but it’s disappointing when a story that starts as a fantasy devolves into a children’s tale. This uncomfortable feeling is compounded when characters magically conjure food and drink out of thin air, like in Harry Potter, including quality alcohol that they then get drunk on. Such things can make a story feel increasingly cheesy. S. A. Chakraborty’s City of Brass is no exception.

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Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor – Book Review

Nnedi Okorafor: Who Fears Death – Book Cover

Africa in an imagined future apocalypse. The why and how of the apocalypse is not explained, and Okorafor doesn’t delve into its impact on the present, just a few scattered half-sentences and done. But you feel like there’s no need for more; this gives just the right amount of mystery to the book titled Who Fears Death. However, the daily life of the black continent, from tribal hatred to superstitions and child soldiers to the ritual mutilation of women, is just like what you see in the media today.

This picture is complemented by magic, which fortunately is not the Harry Potter kind of spells (Curriculum Vitae, etc.) and the world of childish waving of wands, but rather a well-functioning nature magic within its own framework.

After a promising and magical start, a few chapters into Who Fears Death, the text slows down, everything becomes more insignificant, and it starts to stagnate. There’s a very thin main plot, and Nnedi Okorafor stretches it out with all sorts of childish conflicts, resentments, and sulks. Although the blurb says this is the author’s first novel for adults, it seems more like a slightly overthought young adult novel. Events trickle slowly, neither too interesting nor too boring, but they have little to do with the main storyline, often feeling unnecessary.

Black people shouldn’t feel like a curse is upon them, not now, not in an imagined future post-apocalyptic world, that’s the main message of Who Fears Death. Plus, transcendent femininity (ha-ha) can work wonders if it’s given enough sacrifice. Unfortunately, it won’t work without it. However, these lessons are wrapped in a lot of unnecessary text. (And why the “ha-ha”? Well, because you can put transcendent femininity on your hat while developed countries export weapons instead of knowledge to the black continent… oh, and while the residents there routinely pepper each other with Kalashnikovs and slice each other up with machetes.

And despite Okorafor’s text being imbued with a commendable level of concern for present-day Africa, you still feel like the author will accomplish much less than intended. And the long and drawn-out spiritual wanderings in Who Fears Death only manage to culminate in a feeble, philosophical conclusion.

7/10

Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death #1) by Nnedi Okorafor
386 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2010 by DAW Hardcover

The Greed by Scott Bergstrom – Book Review

The Greed by Scott Bergstrom – Book Cover

Scott Bergström’s book series is celebrated as a rejuvenator of the young adult genre, although it’s highly debatable whether it can even be called young adult at all; after all, the only connection is the protagonist’s age, and even that’s mostly true only in the first book, where Gwendolyn, who certainly isn’t your typical teenager, was a 17-year-old youngster. In ” The Greed,” she’s now trampling through her 19th grim year. (And their adversaries. She tramples them too.)

The not-so-human-friendly world of espionage isn’t a common theme in YA literature either (the Alex Rider books come to mind suddenly, although they’re aimed at a much younger audience). So, this series can be enjoyed by mature teenagers and up, as it’s fundamentally entertaining.

Scott Bergström is no longer as modest when it comes to sex as he was in the first part: little Gwendolyn has become somewhat more daring; although it’s true that the momentum slows down during the romantic parts, the author fails to convincingly convey deeper emotions. Here, you really sense a bit of a taste for young adult literature, although fortunately it’s only for a few chapters.

As cliché as “The Greed” is in matters of romance, it is just as unpredictably engaging as a thriller. In the first book, Gwendolyn discovered the cruelty within herself needed to stay alive, and now she’s presenting the bill for all the suffering. After the well-developed opening chapters, she embarks on diverse adventures: hiding, fleeing, investigating her own parents’ past, a bit of reluctantly accepted hitman work, and then stiffly opposed “hospital treatment”; however, her adventures occasionally trespass into the realm of unseriousness for brief moments.

Fortunately, although Gwendolyn is at least as sharp as, say, Jane Hawk (see Dean Koontz’s “The Whispering Room“), it turns out she’s not (always) invincible. And fortunately—better late than never—Bergström also realizes that what doesn’t work (and here we mean romantic troubles) doesn’t need to be forced—even if it means traveling all the way to Budapest.

In similar novels, the good side is usually represented by Americans, but here, the faceless CIA is the antagonist—no super-secret clique or a few treacherous scoundrels; Gwendolyn and her father anger the entire company, indeed the entire glorious American nation. A more believable and tangible main antagonist wouldn’t have hurt the story.

The ending of „The Greed”, however, is too, um, bombastic, and the clumsy melodramatic final scene is just another reminder of the young adult toolkit. But at least you can guess what the title of the next book will likely be. Envy? Pride? Lust? Ummm, no, more like something related to irreconcilable vengeance.

7.7/10

The Greed (The Cruelty #2) by Scott Bergstrom
416 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2018 by Feiwel & Friends

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – Book Review

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - Book cover

Fantasy and heist novel combined? Yes. The roughest face of the harbor district is entrusted with an action spanning countries. The target is a scientist whose invention exponentially amplifies the power of magic users but quickly fries them in return. Well, that doesn’t sound too good.

The first part of Six of Crows is about assembling the team. It’s cool. The characters are unique and memorable, hello Kaz, Nina, and the Wraith! The setting, the slums of Ketterdam, bears an uncanny resemblance to a slightly twisted version of a possibly still-existing Dutch city from the past (maybe Limburg or Utrecht, right now, I can’t really tell all of a sudden). What’s a bit strange, though, is that all the main characters are teens. To cater to the similarly aged target audience? Probably. Or maybe I just hadn’t realized until now that I’m reading young adult fantasy. (Quite possible.) The plan doesn’t work, though, because the human mind, this wonderful contraption, constantly corrects itself, and the characters’ age is automatically adjusted to over 20 in thought. Because it’s unimaginable that 15-17-year-olds are so proficient in so many areas.

The second half is the action itself. Our small team, consisting of ten or twenty-year-olds, infiltrates the Ice Court, THE MOST HEAVILY GUARDED FACILITY IN THE WORLD, and starts wreaking havoc. They roam around based on a rough plan sketched out about a thousand kilometers away and, with the help of the TOOLS FOUND ON THE SPOT, the team’s MacGyvers get to work. Whoever comes their way, they take down. Luckily, there”s hardly any guard IN THE MOST HEAVILY GUARDED FACILITY IN THE WORLD. If a few do happen to stroll around that area, they’re all idiots. And here, the book truly descends into young adult fantasy. Unbelievable and stupid twists alternate, and you just look and think, what the heck is this. Based on the first two chapters of Six of Crows, this story should be at least a masterfully crafted, twist-filled heist with, for example, something like the Casa de Papel TV series.

What somewhat saves this part are the interjected flashbacks depicting the deep, tragic (and silly misunderstandings-filled) backstories of some characters. These create a noticeable contrast with the clumsy chasing in the Ice Court and the lousy closing chapters. It’s as if Leigh Bardugo dreamed up this epic story, then wrote and wrote enthusiastically, and then halfway through, oopsie, got tired of of all the fuss and said, ‘eh, I don’t give a frak,’ and from then on just tried to get through her own book as quickly as possible.

Despite its flaws, Six of Crows still outshines most of the young adult genre. The first half is genuinely high-quality writing, and it doesn’t feature the continuous stupid whining that usually inundates similar works. But still, it’s quite a shame.

Oh, and it has a DOUBLE romantic plot for romance enthusiasts. Mostly, in a young adult way, it consists of yearning.

6.5/10 (65%)

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
465 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2015 by Henry Holt & Company