Review: From Hell

From Hell by Alan Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To be upfront, I'm not even that big of a fan of Alan Moore. 'Fan' implies that their love of the art/artist allows someone to overlook its flaws as to not forsake their enjoyment. For example, a 'Star Wars Fan' overlooks the fact that it's ultimately a film franchise that hasn't produced a good movie since 1980. While I consider Moore to be an insanely talented writer, there is a worship of him that is completely unwarranted. He is not a god. He's a demigod at best.

That being said, "From Hell" might be his best full graphic work. "Watchmen" will always be his most culturally significant work, but, to be honest, I've always been a dissenter when it comes to its accolades as the "greatest comic book ever". "From Hell" is more about a flawed humanity than flawed heroes and the driving plot doesn't force the book to contradict itself. I just feel Moore is at his best here, if anything else, at least on the technical level.

Even though the details of the plot are very much fiction, it incorporates several facts about the White Chapel murders. The particulars around Leather Apron being the most important. Technically meaning this story is a half-truth, making it that much more convincing. Though I wouldn't use this book as a reference if you're doing a paper on the subject.

I had mixed feelings about the art. It comes off as rough and inconsistent when you're first introduced to it. However, over time, it grew on me and I realized there was no other style better than what is used. The shifts from blobs of shade to well-flushed out faces are gradual and are used to great effect. Also, the nine-panel page format is the best and most natural way to tell a story in graphic novel form. You can fight me on that if you wish, but you'll lose.

If you're at least in your thirties (this book might be too much if you're any younger than that), you should already be reading this book. It's a great insight into one of the most gruesome stories of the western world. Its theory into the identity of Jack the Ripper is too complex to be true, but it's definitely the most interesting take you'll ever come across.

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Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I honestly wanted to like this book. It's been on a to-read list for a while and on my mind whenever I was picking what to read next. I finally got around to it and now I wonder what made me want to read it in the first place. It was definitely sold based on its context rather than its content. I can't think of another explanation.

Bottom line, this book just isn't well written. Almost in every aspect of the term. In the ways of prose, it just isn't creative. And, every time it does try to be, it fails to ascend beyond the rudimentary. Intellectually, it lacks in a way that feels like an insult considering the subject. The book is 100% what is going on and has no interest or ability to explain the hows and whys.  Both in terms of social dichotomy and the science involved. Even on a technical level, it seems to lack in grammar and sentence structure. It'll succeed in a spell check with Microsoft Word, but that doesn't mean the writing succeeds beyond a juvenile manner. There are just too many ways to point out how this book isn't good.

There is a point where the book says "These are pieces of my jawbone. I pulled them from my jaw." (Sorry if this isn't a 100% perfect quote, but I didn't feel like looking it up.) I just remember this because I had to put down the book and rub my temples for five minutes. I mean, where else would you pull pieces of your jawbone from? Your elbow? It's just a key example of how poor the writing is. Sorry for the rant. It's been on my mind since I read it and, if I didn't write about it, it would turn into a brain tumor and kill me.

While I wanted to like this book, I still didn't hate it by its end. If someone asks me if I would recommend it, it would a profound 'hell no'. It isn't bad in a sense I felt it was a gross adaptation of the art, rather that the narrative needed a complete rewrite. The perspective and focus on certain details detract from any emotional impact and might have been served better by a character throughline and/or a strong POV. Rather than the foggy overview, this book ended up being. It's not the story I disliked as much as how it was written. If that makes any damn sense. 

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Review: Finder

Finder by Suzanne Palmer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don't even feel like doing a full review of this book. It isn't bad. If it was bad I could get mad at it. In fact, it's worse than bad. It's dull, uninspired, stale, and insipid to the point I want to get out the thesaurus to find even more words for uninteresting. It's competently written in the sense that everything is spelled correctly, its grammar gets an A+, and you know what is going on at all times. But writing is more than just stringing a bunch of words together. There's a missing humanity to this book that you would get even from a badly remembered acid flashback. This book checks all the boxes for structure, character definition, and a host of other things that I harp on other books for not doing as well. However, even though it does all those other things right, it fails at the most important aspect of any book. This isn't a story worth telling.

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Review: Upgrade Soul

Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book might be the most worthwhile read I've ever come across. It hits just shy of being on any favorite lists, but its depth and design smash all of my art nerd buttons. I'll, of course, go more in-depth in a minute, but I want to just say that anyone who is even remotely interested in comics, or literature in general, should check it out. Whether or not you actually like it will depend on you as a person, but there is no doubt in my mind that everyone should at least read it.

First things first, you need to go into this thing cold. I won't waste your time with a plot summary and you shouldn't waste your time reading any. The book is so firmly built around keeping you in the dark that you probably will hate most of it if you already know what's going on. In fact, you should stop reading this review, read "Upgrade Soul", and then come back and read my thoughts.

An issue some might have is that it can be a little hard to follow. The story isn't told linearly and there aren't any ques beyond visual changes in the characters. Normally, bouncing around bugs the shit out me, but that is because it is typically done by the incompetent. But here, every turn is done for a particular purpose as we dive deeper into a character. The bad news is that this structure forces you to pay any extra bit of attention. The good news is that this book earns that attention.

The art serves the book well. The style perfectly fits the story and themes thereof. If it's a turn off for you then you probably won't enjoy the book as a whole regardless. The frames and flow are also well designed so it properly deliveries the intended emotional impact. I didn't encounter a single panel where I thought the art wasn't purposeful or underdeveloped. Just good art all around.

There is a deeper meaning to this book about examining someone as their true self. Coming to terms with who and what you really are if your body was no longer a confinement and you shed every social norm. This deeper layer might mean different things to different people. That's kind of how deeper layers work. But it should profoundly touch you as long as you open yourself up just enough to let it.

Just read the fucking book already.

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Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Almost good. I think that best sums it up. There's a strong voice with excellent prose and interesting characters, but there's just a lacking in structure and plot that brings it down. I think the best way to describe my issue with it is that there is a very strong sense of being in the moment, but very little sense of what is actually going on in a meta sort of way. There isn't a strong threat or thread that ties everything together. The main character travels from world to world with little reasoning and much of the actual plot seems to just happen to her. Excellent colorful writing but no through-line. Like it keeps walking through a door into another world and forgetting why it came in here in the first place.

Also, much of the book is written like a narrative memoir. Something I still haven't decided is good or bad. The book-within-a-book structure is charming for about a hundred pages before it gets annoying. Both aspects might be more appealing to another reader, but it mostly didn't click for me after a while. I knew there was a problem when I started to feel like I was reading a lengthy novel when it is, in fact, rather short.

If you like books that are almost good, then you'll probably have a great time. There's a lot to like here and I look forward to reading more from Harrow if some of the structural problems are realized and worked on. In fact, I fully recommend you check this novel out. Just because I didn't connect with it, because I have a heart of dark slug, doesn't mean you won't.

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Review: The Dragon Republic

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first book in this series, "The Poppy War", was my favorite book of 2019. Granted it was a lackluster year, but that still doesn't change the fact I was amazed by it. Now the sequel, "The Dragon Republic", is here to allow me the chance to be fully disappointed by it. So, did it? Review spoiler, it did not. I wouldn't go out of my way to say it's better or worse than the first, mostly because it's really just more of the same. Which, for once, is a very good thing.

The good news is that the same well-written characters and prose are still here. Kuang has an extremely strong voice and it flows easily into every word she writes. The book isn't only entertaining, but rich in both characters and plot. Not only satisfying but good for you too. Also, as a sequel, it jumps right into the heart of the story without having to spend a lot of time in school. Teaching us valuable lessons in character introduction.

I do have issues, but they are small and didn't detract terribly from my experience. My biggest issue is some of the pacing. There's a spot about two-thirds of the way in that lingers too long. It's important but should have been trimmed down for the sake of flow. It also hangs around after the story is over to set up the next book. Ninety percent of the story is firmly contained within the bounds of the text, but the last couple of chapters should have been saved for the third novel. It's not a cliffhanger per se, but it colors outside the lines of what the novel should be for the sake of being a tease and ending on a more dramatic note.

There also aren't any new characters to enjoy. There are actual new characters of course, but they are merely there because the shifting plot demands it. Making them more important to the plot rather than to the story. If that makes sense.

There's one last thing, and this might be a deal-breaker for some readers. Rin, our main heroin (get it?), isn't a likable character. And I don't mean in an antihero person-you-love-to-hate kind of way. She's rash, rude, disrespects everyone, easily falls into traps, a drug addict, and will kill tons of innocent people for simple revenge. The book is even aware of this as it readily admits her faults as side characters call her things like 'impulsive'. Here's the thing though, I still love the shit out of her. I don't know if its the breaking of the mold or refusing to abide by certain character rules, but I still love reading about Rin despite everything. It just might not be for everyone.

I loved the first book in this series, and the sequel lives up to its promise. If you liked "The Poppy War", I don't see why you can't also like its follow up. Not a perfect book. But, besides Dune, what is?

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Review: The Lady of the Lake

The Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

All I have are general thoughts. After reading two collections of short stories and five novels, it's difficult to separate my thoughts into a focused attempt to review this book. Every reviewed sentence is in someway a generalization on the series itself instead of a singular critique. But I'll do the best I can.

"The Lady of the Lake" is a good end to a decent book series. As with the other novels, the prose and characters are colorful and well defined, but it has serious structural problems. As an example, Geralt spends the first half of the novel on vacation. Undermining any sense of progression and serves more as colorful filler than anything else. The book is then sectioned by a fabulous, exceeding long, chapter that contains ninety percent of the plot progression for the entire book series. Then is concluded by actions with no real build-up and the resolution feels non sequitur. Like I said, structure problems.

Overall the Witcher series has a healthy dose of influences that range from fairy tales to Norse mythology but has enough original ideas to keep it from feeling like a ripoff. The writing is good but can feel a little full of itself. With enough edits to reduce the filler and wandering around, this could have easily been a far more satisfying trilogy. It wasn't so much that I felt like the author was wasting my time, more so that I felt like he was wasting the time of the characters.

One last thing. Like many, I became involved with this universe through the video game series. The world and characters dragged me in over a decade ago and I haven't been able to leave since. I read the book merely to bring myself fully involved in the universe. Here's the thing, and it might inflame some people, the writing in the games is better. The dialogue is punchy and consistently clever. It takes the world-building and characters of the novels and crafts a far more engaging story. It even resolves some of the more loose plot threads of the books with better ideas. An argument can be made that the games are serviced by a more visual media, but I don't think that's the case. I think they just took a dim jewel, added some talented polish, and made it shine.

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