Intrepid Geek

Fearlessly I explore new worlds through the mystical portals you can purchase in book stores. I then try and keep a record of what I thought of them in the form of reviews and ramblings. Find me on Goodreads

[eleanorhollindrake]

Worldcon 75 - Helsinki 2017 This summer I traveled to Helsinki, Finland, for the 75th World Science Fiction Convention.  Because it’s not everyday I get to travel to Helsinki I decided to miss Nine Worlds this year and head over to Finland the weekend before the convention so that I could spend a few days exploring the city. I had enough time to see the archaeology in the National Museum and travel out to an isles with lots of old Finish houses on it. The day before the main convention started I headed out to Suomenlinna Island, an island in the bay of Helsinki with a really old fortress on it it, to attend a pic nic organised by the Finnish Tolkin Society. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was lovely to meet lots of people from all over the world. A group of us split off and went for a walk round the island. The main convention kicked off on Wednesday and it was apparent right away that this was going to be a BIG convention as it became very difficult to get into any of the talks. But the organisation of this convention was fantastic! They never expected the amount of numbers they got through the door in the first day but by the second day more rooms had been opened up, lots of talks were moved to bigger rooms and the lines were managed really well. They listened to feedback and found solutions so that by the end of the week everything was running like clockwork. So hats off the Worldcon 75 team! Like usual the program of talks was fantastic. I didn’t see nearly as many as I would usually cram into a convention, instead choosing to pace myself and not take on too much. I don’t regret this depression as I still managed to see a lot of great things. A few of the highlights were the live Tea and Jeopardy episode with George R. R. Martin, Trolls in Nordic SFF and the panel dedicated to the Moomins which made me interested in picking up the original books. As well as the panels there were a lot of performances. Having spent the first half of the week sightseeing I hadn’t paid much attention to the program and so the first time when I realized that Daveed Diggs and his band, Clipping, were in attendance due to their Hugo nomination, was when they walked past me in the dealer’s hall. I think I literally did a double take. I quickly learned that they were going to be doing a show and so made sure to see it. Diggs raps faster than seems humanly possible and the combination of lyrics, ideas and sounds makes for an amazing live show. Seeing them playing to a small group of sci fi nerds on a Thursday night in Helsinki, Finland was a surreal experience and I think totally awesome for everyone lucky enough to be in that room. I was also supper excited to attend my first masquerade (some how I always miss them) and to see Sassafrass play the half time show. Sassafrass are an acapella group lead by Ada Palmer, who sing songs based on Norse Mythology. I’d seen them do I very small set in London three years ago and it was great to see them again. The Hugos were once again a highlight of the convention for me. This year they reflected just how international this years WoldCon was with awards for Finnish and Japanese translations being awarded between the usual categories. Not everyone I voted for won but this year finally, one again, saw a solid ballot and I was very happy for all the creators honored in the ceremony. And Ursula Vurnon’s speech about dead whales stole the show! For me the best part of conventions is always the people I meet. It got to meet some of my favorite authors like Kameron Hurley and Ada Palmer (who’s Kaffeeklatch I managed to sign up for), to get to know some of the people I see at UK conventions better and to make some new friends who I hope to stay in touch with and possibly see again at WorldCon 2019 in Dublin. I was bumping into people right through the airport on my way home and it was as far as Heathrow before I had to finally say bye to the last of the convention.  Until next time.

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A brief account of my adventures at WorldCon

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Mother Panic, Volume 1 by Jody Houser, Tommy Lee Edwards, Shawn Crystal and Jean-Francois Beaulieu

This is the first volume in one of DC’s new Young Animal imprint titles. Violet Paige is rich, famous for just being famous and a masked hero. Sort of like batman but not, I mean she wears white. OK, joking aside, I quite like the set up of this book. The character and costume design are really cool and I like her “I don’t give a damn” attitude to both life and crime fighting. Or at least I did, until they changed the artist 3 issues in. Because that is my biggest problem with this book. Just based on the art, this comic is about two completely different people.

I loved the art style of the first 3 issues by Tommy Lee Edwards. It was very dark and expressive with lots of confident dynamic lines. I felt like it emphasized what it was doing with the character. Like I said before, I liked her attitude, which shows though in her posture, her fashion choices. It’s all quite punk and I was into it. What happened? You get to issue 4 and it’s all boobs, hips and fishnet? Who is this person, because it sure as hell isn’t the quite tomboyish Violet I loved from the cover of issue 2! Her costume which looked well armored and very sturdy is suddenly painted on. Fabric no longer functions in any realistic way as soon as it adorns a female body, instead it clearly emphasizes and exaggerates the shape of their boobs. So much so that n one page a plunging neck line is drawn with so little thought and care that she is left walking along talking to her mother with one of he boobs out. The change of art style was extremely jarring to begin with as it was very different but this just made me want to throw the book against the wall.

As for the writing I don’t think I got a fair sample from this volume. It contains two, three issue stories and neither of them delved deep enough for me to really sink my teeth in. They do enough to set the scene and introduce the characters but I felt like both stories would have been better if they had had more back story. Mother Panic is a very guarded character and unfortunately this makes her feel very distant from the reader. I found it difficult to feel emotionally involved in either of the stories, even though both of them tie into Violet’s dark past. This is disappointing because quite clearly I developed somewhat of an attachment to the character as I felt strong enough about her change in appearance from just 3 issues.

Will I be continuing with this story. If Shawn Crystal is still drawing it? No. If it returns to something similar to the original art style or gets Tommy Lee Edwards back I might but it’s going to need a really good plot to hook me.

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The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

This is the third and final volume in Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy. When a series is this good I’m always worried that later books aren’t going to live up to the one before, but in this case I needn’t have worried. This is the perfect ending to this story. It explains a lot and answers all the questions I wanted answers to but left just enough ambiguity.  

I’m not going to give too many details because I don’t want to spoil the experience for anyone. All you need to know is that Jemisin is a fantastic author. I’m a big fan of her Inheritance series but I feel she just keep uping her game with every story she tells. She builds really interesting worlds, full of complex well developed characters which not only take you to another world, but make you think about the way our own world is. So these books are worth all the hype and the awards they have won. 

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The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Monty is a young Lord about to head out on his Grand Tour of Europe. This is going to be a last hurrah before he has to return to England and take over the running of the family estate from his Father. He will be travelling with Percy, his best friend who he is secretly in love with, and Felicity, his annoying little sister who always had her nose in a book.Or at least that is the plan...

As soon as I heard what this book was about I knew I had to read it! But this book exceeded my expectations and kept developing in ways I did not see coming. There is so much depth to this book. What you initially think is just going to be a lighthearted romp around 18th century Europe turns out to to be so much more. I recommend going into this book knowing as little as possible so stop reading now if you want to be completely unspoiled because I really want to talk about this book some more and I might give one or two things away.

Monty is our narrator. He is a bit of a scoundrel and quite self centred but it become apparent there is more to him than he lets on to other people. He is a flawed character and in may situations he can act in unlikable ways but we hear the story in his voice so we are able to hear what he is thinking and why he acts the way he does. This doesn't excuse the way he acts but it makes it easier to understand him as a character. And throughout the book you really get to see him develop and learn. He is also bisexual, something he talks about within the book. Percy is biracial and so, even though he is also born into a wealthy English family, he has a very different standing in society than his best friend. Throughout the book as well as race and sexuality it also discussed issues of ableism, class,privilege, gender and asexuality.

The plot itself take many twists and turns. At times it was quite outlandish but it never felt out of tone for the story being told and I was along for the ride, alchemy and highwaymen included. There was plenty of action and adventure thrown in alongside the romance which was promised, which btw was written really well. It was also really funny in places.

There is a real optimism to this book which stood out to me while I was reading it, and it is what has stayed with me most afterwards. At it’s heart I feel like this book is about acceptance more than just romance or friendship. It’s about finding people who will accept you the way you are and who you can feel comfortable being yourself around and this extends out to Felicity as well as just Monty and Percy.

I loved this book and I am so exited that there will be a loose sequel featuring Felicity. I loved her and so I really want to read more about her and more from Lee set in the same time period. 

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Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Katie owns a very successful restaurant but her life is a mess. She is trying to open a new restaurant in town and nothing is going well and her love life is a mess. Then she finds some magic mushrooms which allow her to rewrite things which have happened. 

Oh man, I really wanted to love this book but in the end I found I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it;s not inherently a bad book. The art and the use of panels is fantastic. Some of the pages had me laughing out loud and I really liked how Katie could hear the narration and sometimes talked back to it. But ultimately I didn’t like the characters or the plot.

Now I don’t think characters need to be likable or relatable for a book to be good. One of the most interesting parts of reading is being able to read about people who are different from yourself and look at the world from their perspective. Also, unlikable characters can sometimes be really fun to read about when you don’t actually need to interact with them in real life. But boy, did I not like Katie. 

She was extremely selfish and self centered and I don’t think she learned that much by the end of the book. It made me feel very sorry for a lot of the other characters involved. I also didn’t like how the plots and Katie's impending happiness revolved around her love life. I mean, that is a big part of a lot of peoples lives but I really wanted to read more about her career as a chef and really it was more of a background than part of the plot.

So yeah, I was a little disappointed but the art was amazing.

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Love is Love, by various contributors and curated by Marc Andreyko

This is a comic book anthology put together by the comics community to benefit the families of the victims of the Pulse shooting in Orlando. It takes the format of lots of one or two page comics and works or art inspired by the shooting or other LGBTQ experiences or issues. It’s wonderful to see the comics community come together in this way and donate their talents to something like this including DC and Archie Comics who let their characters appear in the anthology.

Due to the subject matter this book does not make easy reading but it really drives how the tragedy of an event which can too quickly become just another statistic. It’s not perfect, there are far fewer own voices than would be ideal and not every piece sticks the landing. There were a couple of pieces which are uncomfortably uninformed which should have been caught in the editing process. But I think it is well worth picking up and all the profit are going to charity.

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton

OK, so I finally read this one. I had some reservations because it’s surrounded by so much hype and though I am way into a lot of geek culture, the 80′s were a little bit before my time and I’ve never been into video games. However, I did end up really enjoying it.

Set in a near future, dystopian world, people spend most of their time inside a virtual reality world called “the Oasis”. When the creator of this world dies he leaves a video message telling the world he has left his fortune as an Easter Egg within the computer programme and whoever finds the clues first can have it. The main character is a teenage boy who is one of the people searching for this Easter Egg. 

The main selling point for this book is the amount of pop culture references packed into it and there were many. I also really enjoyed this aspect of the book, it was a tone of fun to see different things crop up within the plot and I will say that the references were quite wide and varied. I had worried they would centre mostly on video games and be lost on me but there are references to music, TV, movies, role playing games, you name it, it’s probably in there, and it is surprising how much 80 pop culture has just been absorbed into everyday life. 

I also really enjoyed the characters, most of who we get to see through how they portray themselves in the virtual world. It had some good twists and commentary about the idea of people interacting with each other exclusively online.

I would also highly recommend the audio book. Wil Weaton is the perfect choice of narrator for a book like this.

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Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach by Brian Azzarello, J.G. Jones and Lee Bermejo 

When it comes to reboots and prequels I’m not a purist. I hadn’t head good things but I was willing to give this series a chance. But no, people were right, this book didn’t need to be written. It just doesn’t add anything to the Watchmen world. If anything I felt it took away from it. Alan Moore managed to paint a picture of these characters so well within just the 10 issues of Watchmen that these stories just fell flat. They felt like they were trying too hard to emulate what had come before and failed terribly. I won’t be reading anymore, but I will be rereading Watchmen. 

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Groot by Jeff Loveness and Brian Kesinger

So much fun! I loved it! Rocket and Groot’s space road trip doesn't go to plan right from the start and Groot finds himself needing to venture across the universe to save his friend. The art is lovely, the host of characters Groot encounters along the way are fantastic and full of life, and humor, especially for a 6 issue story. I would highly recommend this to readers both young and old. This book is full of heart! Why isn’t there more? There needs to be!

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Doom Patrol, Volume 1: Brick by Brick by Gerard Way, Nick Derington and Tamra Bonvillain

Doom Patrol is a title which has recently been brought back by Gerard Way’s Young Animal in print for DC. This volume acts as a jumping on point and a “getting the gang back together” story which was accessible as a new reader but also had plenty of nods to the characters’ histories which made me want to go back and read the older volumes rather than making me feel lost. The art really fit the book, especially the colour, which evoked an older style of colouring with it’s use of bright contrasting colours without feeling retro or dated. 

Casey is an ambulance driver who’s world quickly seems to get quickly turned inside out as she is dropped into the world of the Doom Patrol, DC’s strangest team of heroes. It’s really weird and really fun with great well developed characters. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next now the team has reassembled. 

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Gotham Academy, Volume 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl

I really really enjoyed this one. A new student starts school at Gotham Academy which seems like a normal high school except that it’s super weird and Gothic. It soon becomes apparent that there is something going on with a boarded up building on campus and it might have something to do with what happened to one of the main characters over the summer. 

The art fit the tone of the book perfectly and just looked great. I also loved all the characters especially the main character who isn't your average teen protagonist. She is super nerdy and I loved her. I got this from the library and they don’t have any other volumes so I may actually go out and buy more so I can keep reading. It also seems to stand alone within the DC universe so you can pick it up even if you haven’t read any DC titles before which is always a plus for me. 

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Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze

I liked the characters but only really skimmed the surface and didn’t feel like I really got to know them. Even tough this is a volume one I don't think it is a great jumping on point for new readers. You are expected to have more knowledge of the world and story line to really know what iss going on. I think this would be great if you have previously read Black Panther, otherwise may be start somewhere else. 

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Two Brothers by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

This is a graphic novel adaptation of the well known Brazilian novel by Milton Hatoum. I am a big fan on Ba and Moon’s work however this book really wasn’t for me. 

It follows the lives of two twin brothers who are separated when they are quite young when one of them is sent to live with relatives in another country and doesn't return until they are adults. The story follows the tensions in the family caused by the conflict between these two brothers and how that affects the family. All the characters in this story were deeply flawed and there was a harsh jealousy underlying much of the story. I really hated reading about them and thought there were some pretty dark moments glossed over. 

There are probably some literary stuff I missed but I just was not a fan and I think that has a lot to do with the original source material. I still enjoyed Ba’s art though especially the architecture and scenery of the setting in Brazil. 

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Angel Catbird: Volume 1 by Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas and Tamra Bonvillain

I really wanted to give this comic a go but I really didn’t get on with it. It seemed to be thinly veiled propaganda about responsible cat ownership and bird conservation. In general I agree with those sentiments but it really laid it on thick right down to very long footnotes and adds in the back of the book. It distracted from the story which felt way too cheesy anyway. I’m sure it’s for some people but i won't be continuing. 

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Pretentiousness: Why it Matters by Dan Fox

This is a fascinating essay touching on everything from the origins of the word to why it has become somewhat of a slur. It covers theatre, art, pop culture and class to give a really in depth understanding of why people or things are describes a pretentious, what that means and why, ultimately, a sign that people are pushing boundaries. 

I studied art at university and I found it very interesting both from a theory point of view as well as how it related to experiences I have had in my time as an artist. It also just so happened to hit on many topics I find interesting anyway which was an added bonus. I would recommend to anyone interested in the topic or contemporary art or pop culture in general. 

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How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.

This is a graphic novel adaptation of a short story by Neil Gaiman. Despite being very familiar with all the creators at work here I still didn't know what to expect from this book. I actually thought, for some strange reason, this was actually just about a couple of guys trying to talk to girls at a party. It’s not. Sure, it starts out that way, but things quickly begin to reveal themselves as being not what thy seem. 

I thought the beautiful dreamlike quality of the art fit the story perfectly. I love Gaiman’s writing and think it always translated into comics really well. I borrowed this from the library and I am seriously considering buying a copy so that I can look at it whenever I want. 

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The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 2: Squirrel You Know It's True by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Once again, this comic was a lot of fun. I’m loving squirrel girl and this volume saw her make some awesome new friends and team up to fight a villainous squirrel from Norse Mythology. It’s a great time.