What I've Been Reading Lately: Series of Things

The Witch Must Burn, The Wizard Returns, Heart of Tin, The Straw King, Ruler of Beasts Danielle Paige

As I mentioned in my last post, I really like the Dorothy Must Die series, where Oz turns into a dystopian hellscape. The ending of the 3rd book changed everything and as I desperately wait for the 4th, I've been loving this prequel series that shows how Oz got to the point it got to. We see how terrible Dorothy is, but how Glinda is really the evil behind the throne, and who just gets swept up in everything. Also, as I was putting this together I discovered that a new installment, Order of the Wicked, comes out next week! Squee!




Princeless: Save Yourself, Princeless: Get Over Yourself, Princeless: The Pirate Princess, Princeless: Be Yourself, Princess: Raven the Pirate Princess: Captain Raven and the All-Girl Pirate Crew Jeremy Whitley, illustrated by M. Goodwin, Emily Martin, Rosy Higgins, Ted Brandt, Brett Grunig

OMG. This is one of those things where everyone said it was AH-MAZING and it was still better than all the hype and love for it. If you're unaware, Adrienne is a princess, the youngest one, and she's been locked in a tower, just like her sisters, because being rescued is the best way to find a husband? She is NOT HAPPY about this. So she befriends the dragon that guards her and they make a jailbreak and head off to find and save all of her sisters. Meanwhile, her father has set out a band of mercenaries to track down whomever kidnapped Adrienne out of her tower. (Awkward!) Along the way she assembles an awesome team. It's Rat Queens for the Lumberjanes set (perfectly suitable for Middle Grade!). The first volume of the Princess Raven spinoff series still makes me laugh. When Raven (a pirate princess rescued by Adrienne with her own scores to settle) tries to assemble a crew, she gets mansplained so hard and it is just so pitch perfect and hilarious that I couldn't breath I was laughing so hard. This quickly became a comic that I collect instead of waiting for it at the library.



Enchanted, Inc., Once Upon Stilettos, Damsel Under Stress, Don't Hex with Texas, Much Ado About Magic, No Quest for the Wicked, Kiss and Spell Shanna Swendson

So I read this entire series a few years ago and reread it this month and *happy sighs.* I reviewed most of it when I read it. But this was everything I remember and more and just the perfect fun, comfort reread that I needed. I enjoyed rereading so much that I just went it bought it so I can reread it whenever I want. (They're all really cheap on Kindle right now, so now's a good time to check them out.)


Books Provided by... my local library, although I then went and bought all the Princeless and Enchanted, Inc titles.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

What I've Been Reading

The Romani Gypsies Yaron Matras

I was reading a romance novel last spring that made my spidey-sense tingle in relation to stereotypical representation of Romani people. But, I don't know much about the Romani, so I've been doing some research so I can flesh out my thoughts and share them more fully. Matras's book was a great look at the Romani in Europe, historically and today. It can be academic at times, but I found it extremely useful (and horrifying. This whole project has been an exercise in realizing things you thought were bad are even worse than you imagined.)

Unterzakhn Leela Corman

I first heard about this from the wonderful podcast, The Worst Bestsellers (it was not a Worst Bestseller. It was discussed in their readers' advisory section). This comic follows two Jewish twins growing up in Manhattan's tenements at the beginning of the 20th century. One apprentices to a "lady doctor" the other works for madam who runs a theater and brothel. With bold, heavy black-and-white work (it reminded me a bit of Marjane Satrapi in terms of how both artists use line and fill) it's a moving story as their stories diverge and where their separate paths take them.

Get Your Ship Together: How Great Leaders Inspire Leadership from the Keel Up D. Michael Abrashoff

I read a lot about management. Abrasoff is a former naval commander and talks a lot about his experience in running a large ship, but also profiles other leaders he admires in many fields-- yes some military, but also a bakery, and insurance company, and more. Abrashoff's style is really easy to read and engaging, and it said somethings that really sparked some ideas for the library. (Mostly about how it all comes down to making sure our daily operations are flawless because that's what everything else is built on. As he points out, the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. Also, the bigger and fancier the ship, the more tugboats you need to get it in and out of the harbor.) I also appreciated how he, and the leaders he profiles, place a great emphasis on the individual, and take into account their nonwork lives. After reading Superbosses it was reassuring to see very successful people champion a good work/life balance.



Library Wars: Love and War Vol. 15 Kiiro Yumi, based on work by Hiro Arikawa, translated from the Japanese by John Werry

If you haven't yet read this manga series about Japanese libraries who take the Freedom to Read so seriously they literally fight for it, like, with their own armies, you need to start. This was a perfect end to the story and now I'm just a puddle of happy sighs. My one minor quibble is that we don't get as many of the side-bards and mini-comics like we did in the previous volumes but instead the results of fan polls from LaLa magazine, where it was initially serialized in Japan. BUT! The manga is based on a novel series, two books of which were bonus material and Yumi is currently working on those and I really, really, really hope they get translated into English, but I want more of these people!

At the King's Command Susan Wiggs

After witnessing the slaughter of her family, Russian Princess Juliana Romanov flees to England, where she lives among the Romani. Caught stealing a horse, King Henry VIII himself commands her to marry a baron, Stephen de Lacey. A marriage neither of them wants, it will be in name only until the king gets bored and they can get it annulled, but only if they can keep their growing attraction to each other in check. I didn't realize how much Romani content this had until I picked it up, so that was interesting for my project, but that aside, I really liked this one. Juliana is consumed with the need to avenge her family, but no one really believes her story. Stephen has his own issues and things would have been better if he hadn't kept his secrets for so long and just talked to someone and blergh, but I still enjoyed it.

No Place Like Oz Danielle Page

I really like the Dorothy Must Die series. (I reviewed the latest, Yellow Brick War, for RT Reviews.) This is the first in a 6 novella prequel ARC, showing how Oz ended up in the twisted mess it was in at the beginning of the series. This one shows how Dorothy returned to Oz and seized power. I loved seeing Dorothy in Kansas, missing both Oz and the notoriety she had when she returned home, but what I loved most is that Auntie Em and Uncle Henry end up back in Oz with her, and seeing their reactions to Oz. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this arc and the fourth book in the main series.



All Books Provided by... my local library

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What I've Been Reading

I've read some great books lately!



Fade Out: Act Three Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker. I loved this graphic novel Hollywood Noir trilogy. A murdered starlet, a corrupt studio system, blacklisting and the lingering effects of war? YES PLEASE. Less violent than their Fatale, Criminal, or Sleeper, this one was more up my alley, while still very much being the dark and compelling storytelling that make Phillips and Brubaker a favorite team of mine, even when their stories aren't my usual cup of tea.

Trade Me Courtney Milan. This was going to be my #TBRChallenge review this month, but I didn't get my thoughts collected in time. (womp womp) Anyway, a wonderful sizzling romance between Tina Chen, a poor college student and Blake Reynolds, software billionaire heir. After a heated class discussion in which Tina claims that Blake could never live her life, they trade places. Of course, you can't truly live another person's life, so they're in constant contact, and oh! the attraction! But both have issues and Tina's not about to get in a relationship with this guy, no matter how much she likes him. Even though it's set in college, but Blake and Tina are adults being adults and it's not a plot that can be solved by just talking to each other. (While they do have their secrets, that's not what's keeping them apart, and they're things the reader understands why they're being kept secret.) Sooooo good and I CANNOT wait for the next one in the series. CANNOT WAIT.

Lumberjanes Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan Shannon Watters, Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A Allen. It's a free day at camp, so Mal and Molly are on a picnic, which is totally not a date. Nope. Not at all. Only, they end up following the bear woman through a portal and have to fight some dinosaurs. The other girls decide to get as many of their boring badges as possible, to hilarious results. I love Lumberjanes! My only complaint is that the trades are SO FAR behind the issue releases. This trade just came out this month and collects issues 9-12. Meanwhile, issue 25 just came out this week. SO FAR BEHIND. Luckily, the next trade is out in July, so hopefully they're catching up?



Rat Queens Vol. 3: Demons Kurtis J Weibe, Tamara Bonvillain, Tess Fowler. Hannah is going back to Mage University to save her father, and all of her secrets are about to come out, and it's going to get very dark as the Rat Queens might just get pulled apart because of it. WHICH IS TERRIBLE BECAUSE THIS IS GOING HIATUS! There are 2 issues scheduled to be released and then... nothing and I'm not sure how they can wrap this up in 2 issues, and OMG WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING TO ME?!

Hamster Princess: Of Mice and Magic Ursula Vernon. My daughter (age 4.5) loves these books when we do a chapter or two at bedtime. I like them so much that I go back and read the chapters I miss when I'm not the one who did bedtime the night before! (I don't do that with most books!) Harriet is struggling with her abilities now that she's no longer invincible (and she really misses cliff diving) but that doesn't stop her from going on another quest. This time, it's a spin on Twelve Dancing Princesses. I don't know who's more excited for this fall's release of Ratpunzel, me or the kiddo.

Study of Seduction Sabrina Jeffries. Lady Clarissa has a giant dowry, no desire to marry, and a stalker with diplomatic immunity. Lady Clarissa is the ward of Warren (Marquess of Knightford) who asks his friend Edwin (Earl of Blakeborough) to squire Clarissa about town and protect her while Warren has to travel to Portugal on some business relating to Clarissa's brother. Edwin and Clarissa have known each other since they were children, but they're like oil and water. But... in order to stop this stalker, they fake an engagement, which then leads to them actually wedding. But can they love each other? Will the dark horrors of their past (especially Clarissa's) allow them to love anyone? Sizzling and so good! You spend half the book screaming "JUST KISS ALREADY" and the other half screaming "JUST TALK ALREADY!" (even though you totally know why they won't talk and you can't really blame them. Some things are impossible to talk about.) So good.



East of West Vol. 5: All These Secrets Jonathan Hickman, Rus Wooton, Frank Martin, Nick Dragotta. I love this series, but this volume was a bit "eh" mostly because in any long story, you need occasional bridge volumes to get you from A to B and they're necessary but not super exciting and this is a bridge volume, but it's building to something big, so I'm excited for volume 6. (Which doesn't have a release date yet. Blargh.)

A Royal Pain Megan Mulry. My friend Megan threw this in my face and told me to read it, so I did. Then she saw it on my desk and said "OMG THAT'S SO GOOD" and I had to remind her I only read it because she threw it at me and told me to! Bronte has a great career and moves to Chicago for a relationship that immediately falls apart. After rebuilding her life, she meets a lovely PhD student who's about to move back to the UK. They start a no-strings-attached fling. Only the student just happens to be heir to a Duke and he wants strings, because he's in love. Bronte doesn't want to give up everything she's built, not again, and it's one thing to dream of being a duchess, but the reality seems a little less desireable. I wanted a bit more from the ending, but I couldn't put it down, and was so excited to see when I grabbed the Amazon link while writing this that it's actually the first in a series?! And I just checked and the second on is on the shelf at the library so... I'm going to go act on that knowledge.

I'll hopefully be back next week with more of what I've been reading! I'd like to do this every week.


Book Provided by... Rat Queens and The Study of Seduction provided by my wallet. Everything else came from the local library.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sass and Sorcery

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch

Palisade is a prosperous commerce town with several marauding gangs that keep the bad things away. Only, when the gangs get drunk, they have a habit of trashing the town. After a town meeting of angry merchants, the gangs are each given a minor quest to keep them out of jail--only the tasks are all set-ups and not all them survive.

The Rat Queens are one of the gangs--4 women--Betty's a Smidgen who likes candy and drugs, Hannah grew up in a squid worshiping cult and might be a goddess, Hannah's a bitter necromancer, and Violet just wants some blood on her sword. They fight, they drink, they party and hook up, and lovingly send up or subvert a lot of fantasy tropes. And they try to figure out who set them up and why.

Lots of wise-cracks, magic spells, and sword play, and a hell of a lot of fun. So much fun. I love these women and want to party with them and watch them kick a lot more ass.

The saddest thing about this is that a lot of the press and reviews are like “YAY! GIRLS!” (including several of the blurbs on the back of the omnibus, and bonus points for how they’re drawn) and given the state of the comic industry, yes, YAY! GIRLS! It’s an exciting breakthrough, but this isn’t a token volume and I fear it will become “oh, that girl comic” and it’s more than that. Read this book because it’s girls being awesome, but really, read this book because it’s just fucking awesome.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Fairest: Return of the Maharaja

Fairest Vol. 3: The Return of the Maharaja Sean E. Williams, Bill Willingham, Stephen Sadowski, Phil Jimenez

Check it out! Prince Charming is alive! And back!

And that’s the best thing I can say about this volume.

After dying in the battle against the adversary, Prince Charming comes back (which we all knew he would eventually, right? He’s much too powerful) but doesn’t want to go back to the mundy and instead becomes a ruler in an Indus fable world. There he meets a woman, Nalayani, who’s come to ask for help. Her village lost all its men to the adversary and is now constantly being attacked by roaming bands and they’re about to be wiped out. Charming is also facing issues as there are those who aren’t fond of having a white foreigner ruling them.*

I do like Nalayani because she’s awesome, but she’s also a new character and not having lived with her for years, I just didn’t care as much about her as I did about Charming or some of the other Fables characters.

Charming… has lost a lot of character growth. When we first met him, he was an arrogant ass, but over the series he had mellowed and matured, but he’s reverted back to all jack-ass charm and lost what made him a deeper, more likeable character.

But here’s my real problem-- the great romances of Fables have all been a slow burn building up through multiple story arcs. If Charming is *finally* going to meet someone for him, someone “better” than Snow or Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, we need the slow burn. We need to get to know Nalayani, we need to see them get to know each other and fall in love. The whole execution seemed rush and I never bought that Charming liked her more than he likes most awesome women, and Nalayani’s affections seem to turn on a dime. Overall, its was just really disappointing.


*this is problematic, as Charming is set up as the good guy, and those who aren’t into colonization are the bad guys. It's kinda worked out in the end, but ergh. But this whole issue is ergh, so...


Book Provided by... my wallet

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Fairest: Hidden Kingdom

Fairest Vol. 2: Hidden Kingdom Lauren Beukes, Bill Willingham, Inaki Miranda

This is a bit of a jump-back in time from where the main series is. With the “present day” happening in 2002, so the action is pretty firmly at the beginning of the series, with lots of flashback to Rapunzel’s back story.

So, like most fairy tales, Rapunzel has a dark edge that we tend not to retell. In the original, the witch discovers the prince because Rapunzel is pregnant. She casts Rapunzel into the desert where she gives birth to twins. The prince gets tangled in brambles trying to climb the tower, is blinded by the thorns and is also cast into the desert. They all wander around for like 20 years before they find each other, Rapunzel’s tears of joy cure his eyesight and only then do they all live happily-ever-after.

In the Fables world, Frau Tottenkinder is the witch that imprisoned Rapunzel. She casts her out, Rapunzel gives birth, and she’s told her children die during childbirth. She’s always known that they survived and has spent centuries searching for them. At one point, she tries to drown herself but washes up on the shores of a Japanese fable kingdom (named the Hidden Kingdom).

In the present day, she gets a message via attacking crane origami that there is news of her children. She meets up with friends and enemies from her old adopted homeland, and Tokyo’s version of Fabletown where the present is tied with the fall of the Hidden Kingdom to the adversary's forces.

I loved this one. I loved the look at Japanese mythology and fables, how they played in their homeland and how they survive in the modern Mundy world. I liked the old school “present day” with Jack running his schemes, Snow and Bigby in the business office and Frau Tottenkinder doing her thing on the 13th floor of the original building. It was a nice return to the beginning. But more than that, I loved Rapunzel’s story and her strength. We don’t see a lot of her, as she’s not allowed to leave Fabletown because of her hair and she’s been kinda shoved to the side in this series.

There’s also a tantalizing clue about the truth about her daughters, that I don’t believe we’ve seen the answer to yet. (I’m trying to rack my brain, as this happens so far in the past to see if we’ve seen them and not known it, or if they have yet to come up.)

This is my favorite volume in the Fairest spin-off series.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Sisters

Sisters Raina Telgemeier

Raina, her sister Amara, her brother Will, and her mother are road-tripping to Colorado (her dad has to work and will fly out and meet them there.) Of course, Raina’s siblings drive her crazy and if she didn’t have her Walkman to drown them out, she’d go insane. The story alternates between the car trip and what happened before (Raina wishing for a sister, she and her sister fighting, the arrival of her brother, life in general in their cramped 2-bedroom apartment.)

As always, I love Telgemeier’s art and storytelling. I think the frame of the road trip works well. It’s also interesting because this focuses exclusively on her family, and as such, gives a different, more complex picture than the glimpses we saw in Smile. The other thing I liked was, when Raina and Amara reached their inevitable detente, they didn’t immediately become BFF. They gained a bit of understanding, but you know their relationship still wasn’t perfect.

Hilariously, I read this one a bit out-of-order. When I got it, I flipped to the middle just to kinda flip through it and I started reading. And then I got to the end, having only read the second half of the book. Then I had to go and read it again, but this time starting at the beginning.

It’s not my favorite of Telgemeier’s (she’s going to have a hard time topping Smile in my heart) but it’s still a great read.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9

Volume 1: Freefall Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline, Dexter Vines
Volume 2: On Your Own Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Cliff Richards, Karl Story
Volume 3: Guarded Andrew Chambliss, Jane Espenson, Drew Z. Greenberg, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 4: Welcome to the Team Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline
Volume 5: The Core Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty

Ok, I’m just going to review all of Season 9 at once. It makes more sense that way. First off, there are only 5 volumes in Season 9, and that makes me sad.

Buffy’s living in San Francisco, trying to make rent and killing vamps in her spare time. She and Willow have some friction because remember how well Willow reacted to losing her magic in Tibet last season? Yeah, now that all the magic is gone from the world, it’s not easy. There are also major divisions in the slayer army--many were killed at the end of last season, but the ones that weren’t aren’t happy with Buffy for destroying the seed.

CONSEQUENCES. They’re even a bigger deal this season than they were last season. First, off World Without Magic is some seriously bad stuff that they have to learn to live with. I love the fact that Xander can’t uncoil--after years of fighting for his life, he can’t relax into normal life. I mean, I don’t love it, because Xander’s in a bad place and I like Xander, but I think it’s a very real consequence. Willow is having a hard time without magic, but one major character’s very existence is threatened by a world without magic. It’s amazing when it happens, because you don’t see it coming, and when it does, you’re just like “DUH OF COURSE”

A few big bads to deal with--ZOMBIE VAMPIRES (who Xander dubs “zompires”), who are basically feral--not the almost-human vamps we’re used to, and the Siphon, who sucks all special power out of you.

Buffy becomes friends with a cop, and they sometimes work together. An interesting character from the end of Angel shows up at the end. Spike’s around and occasionally we see him in his spaceship IN SPACE, because you know, WHY THE HELL NOT. But mostly importantly SPIKE IS AROUND. I love Spike. Kennedy has a side business of slayer bodyguards and there’s a very cool new slayer and watcher on the scene. A BOY SLAYER. He may not have actual slayer powers, but that’s not going to stop him.

I loved this, and I really loved the new complications they set up, and the new big bad we see coming for Season 10. Which comes out in November (UGH WHY SO FAR AWAY?!) I think with Season 8, sometimes Whedon was like “it’s a comic, I can do ANYTHING” and sometimes he did in ways that were fun, but weren’t necessary and sometimes took away from what makes Buffy work. He reigns that in a lot in Season 9. It’s much more about the characters, and we’re back to really just battling vampires. A new breed of vampires, but it’s back to basics (except for Spike’s spaceship, because… well of course you keep the spaceship?)

Books Provided by... my local library

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Orpheus in the Underworld

The Unwritten: Orpheus in the Underworld Mike Carey and Peter Gross


Tom ends up back in the story, but there are so many refugees--the Wound that Pullman gave to Leviathan means stories are dying--with horrible consequences in the real world and in fiction. It's hilariously awesomely horrible what some of our favorite characters from literature are forced to do. Tom journeys to the underworld to save Lizzie but Hades has been disposed by Pauly (PAULY!) But hey, Cosi and Leon are there to help out. (Oh, those kids! I’m so glad they’re still around in the story.)

This was pretty great. Pauly’s horrible, but I’m glad to finally see where that was going. Plus, we get to see what Carey thinks would happen in a Zombies vs. Vampire fight.

But let’s face it-- the FINAL PAGE makes it the greatest thing EVER. Because the final page sets up the next volume, which is a FUCKING FABLES CROSSOVER.

I cannot WAIT for it to come out.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Unwritten: The Wound

The Unwritten, Vol. 7: The Wound Mike Carey and Peter Gross

We start with the Tinker and Pauly-Rabbit hanging out in a wasteland, encountering streams of fictional refugees, streaming from The Wave.

Then we switch to a detective in Australia, who partners up with Danny--the reader from the last issue in Tommy Taylor and the War of Words--to infiltrate the Tommy Taylor cult. Tom and Richie then go hide out and deal with some very real ghosts in Tom’s past.

This is a good “must set up next plot point” volume, but nothing spectacular. EXCEPT that it introduces us to Danny and Didge (the detective), and they are awesome and great additions. (Also, let’s give a shout to Didge, who’s Aboriginal and dyslexic. Turns out dyslexia is a pretty great defense against Pullman’s freaky fiction hand! Also, she’s generally awesome and literally kicks a lot of ass.)

Book Provided by... my local library

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Tommy Taylor and the War of Words

The Unwritten Vol. 6: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Tommy’s coming for the Cabal, but they’re not sure how to prepare for him. Pullman has some ideas, but no one wants to listen to him. We get A LOT of Pullman backstory here. He’s been the Cabal’s thug for millennia. Lots of exploits to cover. There’s even an entire issue of Pullman in Gilgamesh. Plus, we find out who/what Pullman is, exactly (although it’s already been heavily hinted at.) Also, some important backstory with Wilson and Mme. Rauch.

This is a much larger omnibus, and we also have the final showdown between Pullman and Tommy, and the results are… not good. (Setting up the next chapter in the overall story.)

We end with the story of one of the Cabal’s readers--how he got involved and his role in everything, even as a completely insignificant player.

This is where the series really drives home the point about story and how we use story in our lives, and the power story holds in our world.

I loved seeing Pullman through the ages--especially with Gilgamesh and how the art style changed depending on the time period. I think that’s another thing this series does really well--changing the art as things shift. Different time periods, different book, all have art that fits with that story, which is different art than the main story we’re telling. Very cool.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Unwritten: On To Genesis

The Unwritten Vol. 5: On to Genesis Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Back story time! Through some fairly fun hijinks (involving explosions, the Cabal, and Madame Rauch), we see more of what Wilson Taylor was up to, both in the time before Tommy Taylor, but also in how he raised Tom and Lizzie. And the Cabal kicks its game up a notch.

So it doesn’t do much to develop overall plot, but it continues to answer some questions, and the back story is awesomely f-ed up. I like it involves comics-as-literature, and I like the introduction of The Tinker--an old-timey over-the-top superhero. It answers A LOT of questions and raises even more as the world and plot really start to make sense.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Last Gleaming

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Scott Allie

So, Twilight would have been a logical conclusion to the season, but no, this one’s all about consequences, so it takes a bit of a left turn here in a way that actually works.

So, Buffy and Angel can never just be happy--no when they had superpower sex they created an entire universe, and Buffy then abandoned it to return to Earth. But nature, even on other planes, abhors a vacuum and, well, there are consequences to creating a universe, and there are consequences to abandoning it. It all ties back to the seed of wonder--the root of magic on Earth that turns out is physical object… and it’s in Sunnydale.

The question is what to do with it--protect it? Destroy it? Give it away? The gang goes back to the beginning--back to Sunnydale and back to the Protector, who is an awesome bit of “casting” on the part of Whedon et. al. Some very nice parallels with the beginning of the series (and by that, I mean the first season that was on TV beginning of the series).

And of course, at the end of Twilight, we had Spike show up in a goddamned spaceship piloted by giant cockroaches because OF COURSE SPIKE NOW HAS A GODDAMNED SPACESHIP PILOTED BY GIANT COCKROACHES. (This makes me joyously happy, both for the WTF?! factor, but also because I just love Spike. Who doesn’t love Blondey-Bear?)

Things never go right in Sunnydale, and what happens there is devastating on so many levels, making it surprisingly satisfying end to the season, and perfectly setting up the Angel & Faith spinoff.

And oh man, I thought this season dealt well with the consequences of creating a slayer army? There are MAJOR consequences to what goes down in Sunnydale--ones that are going to haunt Buffy & Co. for a long, long time.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight Brad Meltzer, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon

So… Dawn + Xander sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. hee hee.

Ok, back to the main plot-- Buffy and Willow have to clean up the mess they unleashed in Tibet, but Buffy’s suddenly developed some startling powers--like being able to fly. Meanwhile, Willow’s figured out that the Scoobies are missing some key characters and is trying to find them--only to discover that slayer cells around the world have been attacked and decimated. Meanwhile, it’s time for the big Buffy/Twilight showdown only… the results aren’t what anyone was expecting (Well, maybe Twilight was.)

And hoo-boy, the reveal of Twilight is something else. (Not only in identity, but the dialogue in that moment is pretty awesome and classic.)

There are some old slayer legends that need to be brought to light, because when Buffy made all the potentials slayers, there was some MAJOR blowback, and that’s why Buffy has powers, that’s why Twilight’s been doing what he’s doing, and that’s why, when they finally meet, something REALLY big happens.

(Also, I’m still laughing at Dawn’s well-placed “Ben is Glory?” line. Perfect.)

Consequences, consequences, consequences. I think that’s what this season does better than most of the TV seasons did. (With the exception of Season 6.) Buffy changed the world-- there’s a reaction to that. And what Buffy and Twilight do, well, there’s major blowback to that as well.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Unwritten: Leviathan

The Unwritten Vol. 4: Leviathan Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Tommy’s been told to go to the source, which is Moby Dick. Yes--they’re off hunting the elusive white whale. Meanwhile, Pullman (and his creepy wooden hand) meet a super-creepy puppet maker. But the real meat of the story is when Tom gets sucked into Moby Dick, which has his dad playing Ahab and Frankenstein’s Monster lurking in the shadows. By the end, Tom has figured out some really big clues to WTF is going on here. And it’s totally awesome (in every sense of the world.)

It ends with some random animals climbing an endless staircase, featuring our favorite surly rabbit from the issue at the end of Inside Man.

I really like the direction this series is going in, and what it says about the importance of story. I'm also impressed how long it took for Carey and Gross to explain this world, and what they were doing. It says a lot about their level of craft that readers have held on for so long without understanding the basic premise of the story. The payoff is definitely worth the wait.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Retreat

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 6: Retreat Jane Espenson, Andy Owens, Joss Whedon

Harmony’s PR campaign and Twilight’s army have forced the slayers into hiding. They’re losing members left and right and go to Tibet, to find Oz, to have him teach them how to suppress their magic. It doesn’t go well. Twilight’s still onto them. But hey! There is redemption for one character! Plus, OZ!

Oz is married and has a kid and Willow has some issues. She’s jealous he gets a “normal” life. She wants that, but also feels it’s fake, because who is she without magic? What is she without magic? Can she suppress hers like the others? Does she even want to?

There are also some major consequences for their actions that are worth considering.

I feel like this volume is a turning point for the series, because it’s where Buffy really has to start facing the consequences of what she’s done--creating an entire army of slayers upsets the balance and there’s a price to be paid for that. The full ramifications still have to be explored, but this is where you see that turning all potentials into Slayers might not have been the happy ending it appeared at the end of the TV-run.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Dead Man's Knock

The Unwritten Vol. 3: Dead Man's Knock Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly

So, there’s a new Tommy Taylor book coming, and it’s terrible. But will Wilson Taylor show, or is this just a cabal ploy to get to Tom? Either way, this is one book release party with a body count.

Also, who is Lizzie? Is she really escaped from Dickens?

And here’s where I started to get a better sense of what, exactly is happening in this world, and it wasn’t really what I thought it would be, which is awesome. I like how it explores Lizzie’s backstory with a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type issue (although it was really hard to read by booklight!)

Oh, and Richie becomes a vampire.

It's hard to talk about this one without giving it all away. But mostly, this is the one where it starts to make sense and where I really started getting into the series.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.