Books redux

[julesjones]

I read Light Errant, the sequel to Dead of Light, on Sunday, Yes, in one sitting again. Not quite the same slam in and grab the brain effect as the first book, because it's a "what happened next" and I already knew what the setup was, but still a page-turner. Now I'm somewhat bemused as to how to review it without massive spoilers for the first book. In fact, I'd have liked to discuss the first book in a good deal more detail than I did, but held back because of the spoiler issue.

Also need to review the Fake manga series, having finished that a week or two back.

I bounced into Modesty Blaise yesterday courtesy of a discussion on Making Light, but after that I should tackle some more of the book loot from recent cons, and a couple of beta-reading jobs I've been neglecting for the last month.

And maybe try for 300 words on my *own* book, ditto...

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Modesty Blaise...

What was the discussion?

[julesjones]

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/009187.html#201973

which was about series *other* than Harry Potter that involved very long waits for the end. There are several series being discussed, but from about post 150 on gets more and more focused on Modesty Blaise, with much pimpage going on. I think we've snagged three new recruits so far.

I pulled out the first book just to skim for a description reference in answer to someone's question, and accidentally found myself half-way through it. Apparently I wasn't the only one. :-) But I was planning to re-read the series in proper order anyway -- I've never actually done that, as they were out of print for many years so I had to read them in whatever order I could borrow them from the library or from friends.

[silly-swordsman.livejournal.com]

Novels or comics?

Something I miss from Sweden is the comics - there's a Swedish publisher who've collected the daily Modesty Blaise strips and published them in folio hardbacks, with 7-10 adventures in each (depending on length) and chronologies, character lists, interviews and short stories. I've got the first eleven volumes, but I think there are another two or three out now. It seems nobody is interested in that sort of thing in England. :-( I'll have to go bookshopping again next time I go to Sweden. I think there are a couple of new volumes of the hardback Carl Barks' Donald Duck collections, too. And Prince Valiant, and...

And then there's the exorbiant overweight luggage fees at the flights.

[julesjones]

Novels and comics, though focusing more on the novels at the moment.

The Titan Press collections of the comic strip are readily available through Amazon UK -- no idea if they're in bricks-n-mortar shops, for the obvious reason that I don't spend much time in UK bookshops at the moment. :-) feetnotes would have a better idea of what the distribution is like, being a guerilla bookseller and all. But I think those are only in paperback.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

slam in and grab the brain effect

Here I sit, writing that that's how literature works, in long sentences with big obscure words, so's I can change my name to "Dr. Esmeraldus."

And you get away with just tossing it onto your LJ.

Bah.

[julesjones]

Yeah, but you need the big obscure words to get the PhD...

I can see myself working my way through desperance's entire back catalogue over the next year or two, because what he does is such a good match for my buttons.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

Actually I lied. I don't use many really obscure words. But once as an undergraduate, I used "fruits" as a verb, and confuzzled my professor.