Saturday, October 10, 2009

Oct.9, 2009

Here's 2 books and a Graphic Novel I finshed:
BOOKS:
Soul Music, by Terry Pratchet, 1995. Fantasy. This is a novel set in the Discworld series, by super-rich and successful British author Terry Pratchet. I just found this series a couple of years ago, and this is the earliest book in the series I've read so far (there's a bunch of them- 20 or more). Each book, while set in the same world/universe, is really a stand-alone tale, so you don't really need to read them in order. This guy writes what I'd call Humor Satire Fantasy, a weird sub-genre I grant you, but he's damn good at it. It's not my favorite category of book, but I always enjoy his books- I think I've read 5 or so in the past, all set in the Discworld universe, and I liked them all. I wavered back and forth between 3 and 4 on this one, but I decided to rate it a 3.
The Life and Times of a Legend: Bigfoot, by Joshua Blu Buhs, 2009. Non-Fiction. This is a very intriguing book by a guy who's name I have no fucking idea how to pronounce. The book is an overview and examination of the Bigfoot phenomenon from it's beginnings to the present day, looking at all the various evidence and personalities which created the perception of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti mystery as it exists in society today. He doesn't attempt to "solve" the existence/non-existence of Bigfoot, although he does note that he isn't a believer in Bigfoot as a real creature. Instead he charts the creation of the mythos of Bigfoot. Sound boring? It wasn't. Of course, I'm fascinated by this type of subject, but this was extremely well-written, even-handed, and comprehensive. If this sounds interesting to you, I would highly recommend this book. I'll definitely buy it someday (of course, probably at a used bookstore, but I'm cheap..and poor). This guys first book (this is his second, apparently) was apparently a similar treatment of fire ants, which normally I wouldn't read at gunpoint, but now I think I'll look it up for sure. Rating: 4.
GRAPHIC NOVELS:
Jack of Fables , vol. 3: the bad prince. Set in the Fables comic book universe, if you've read the outstanding series Fables, than you've met Jack in the early part of that series (before he was banished). Jack is the "Jack" from many fables, including Jack in the Beanstalk, Jack-Be-Nimble, etc. Apparently he got his own series (I had no idea until I saw this one). I figured since I already was familiar with the fables universe, I could start with this even though it is the third GN collection. I was right. I'm not going to give this a long review- I'll just say it was good, not great, and didn't have the "heart" that makes fables such a tremendously good series, at least to me. Rating is a 3.

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