Graphic Novel - Kristofer Straub - Starslip Crisis Volume 1 (2007)

I bought this book from the man himself at the last PAX Prime, and I was able to get a drawing and an autograph in it as well. I have been trying to read this particular comic of his online for a long time, but I couldn't get into it. Not because it's bad or anything. But because there occasionally happens to be a lot of text, and that's difficult to parse when you just want to read some webcomics.

In book form, however, it's just fine.

Starslip Crisis is a webcomic by the great Kris Straub, lately of Chainsawsuit and Broodhollow fame, that ran for several years. Now that it has ended, I felt like it was time to really dig in, but I had the aforementioned problem. Because while some of the premises of this hard sci-fi comic can be a bit ridiculous, make no mistake, it is hard sci-fi.

Starslip is about a decommissioned warship that has been converted into a high-class art museum, curated by professional artsy douche Memnon Vanderbeam, piloted by ex-space-pirate Cutter Edgewise, and janitorially serviced (among other things) by an alien creature known as Mr. Jinx. Other characters obviously join the fray over the course of the comic, such as Jupiterian princess and ambassador Jovia, engineer Holliday, and rampaging antique robot Vore. The hard sci-fi comes into play primarily in the form of FTL travel, in this case explained by switching places with a parallel universe version of themselves already at the required destination.

Rather than just stick with the concept as infalliable and useful for plot, Straub allows for the logical conclusion of such a mode of travel, even when it becomes inconvenient for the characters; especially when it becomes inconvenient for them. While a bunch of the jokes seem like jokes for the sake of a punchline, the story aspects of this comic are pretty great.

The art... eh, I'm just glad he figured out necks before he started Broodhollow.

Nice work, Mr. Straub. I look forward to acquiring the next volume in your landmark series.

9.5/10

Buy it from Kris Straub's store. 

Science Fiction - Isaac Asimov - The Stars, Like Dust (1951)

Oh shit son! Another post so soon?

So I inaugurated this blog with an Asimov review, and now I have another one for you. I explained in that previous post why I am reading these Galactic Empire novels in this order, so no QQ.

You may be able to tell up there in the title that this book was written in 1951, and god does it feel like it. I don't just mean the scientific missteps (one of which Asimov addresses in an author's note at the end) and the dated ideas like the all-important and much-forgotten "document" occasionally mentioned throughout, but there is something that really does feel like early-fifties science fiction. I get it; the tropes weren't tropes yet, and we weren't so jaded that we needed a better explanation for faster-than-light travel than "HYPERSPACE AND SCIENCE". But it's not even really gosh-wow, like the reviews all over the cover assert. There isn't really much gosh considering that the story begins on Earth (a fallout-riddled Earth at that), and the wow of space is quickly buried in the sheer amount of space travel that takes place. Even the main character, who near the beginning spends almost a whole chapter going on about the majesty of the stars, doesn't seem to really care about it later on. Space travel feels more like taking the bus the longer the story goes on.

But then again, that's Asimov for you. The longer he has to write something, the less enchanted he becomes with it himself, usually resulting in an ending that doesn't hold up to the story hooks at the beginning. This book is only 235 pages, so while the detail begins to slack, the story is all right. But that's all it is: all right.

I know someone may argue that I can't hold it up to the standards of today because it was written so long ago and that it is a "classic", but I really don't think that should preclude it from modern criticism with modern eyes. Sure, it may have been a wonder 60+ years ago, but I read it in 2013. Anyone reading this review is probably reading this book or considering it in this era. The fact of the matter is that it just doesn't hold up as well as other things from that time. That doesn't really mean that it is bad or good. It just means it doesn't have the same feeling to a modern reader that it may have had to a reader contemporary to the time.

8/10

Buy it @ Amazon.
Buy it @ Barnes & Noble.

Young Adult - John Green - The Fault in Our Stars (2012)

I read this book today. I started it on the toilet this morning, and finished it in bed this evening. I plowed through most of it while Bryan was at the gym.

Sorry, I get ahead of things here.

I bought this book after a faulty therapy session, my first, after a very anxious morning. (I have since switched to a different therapist, who I go to see again tomorrow). I went to the bookstore to make myself feel better--not the most healthy way of dealing with my rampant emotions that day, but effective when paired with a nap. I picked this up primarily because it was on one of the bookshelf ends in the sci-fi/fantasy section. Since it was riddled with reviews and bestseller accolades from not the usual suspects for the genre, I knew it wasn't meant to attract the attention of the nerds, but rather the book skimmers who apparently don't go to bookstores to buy books for themselves, but follow someone on their way to their favorite section. I picked it up anyway. I didn't even really bother with what it was about. That's how upset I was that day.

It's now two months later, and I read this book in a day. Primarily because I really liked it.

This story is about teenagers with cancer falling in love. I know, how Lifetime-y, right? But this one is actually worth your time, especially if you like characters. Over the course of the read, you really do begin to love Hazel and Augustus (what unfortunate names!) just as they begin to love each other. When the inevitable happens, it isn't contrived and sigh-worthy as you would think, but instead heart-breaking. I didn't cry, but I came rather close several times. I didn't want Bryan to think I was a pansy or something.

The only thing I have to complain about (oh man, you should see this coming) is the Q&A and "Discussion Questions" at the back of the book. There is no reason at all for an author to explain the symbolism of passages or character names or allegories to other literature bullshit. None. Why? Why do they think that we need to be tutored on the "meanings" of their fucking book? Why can't it just be a heart-wrenching story about two unfortunate young people dealing with shortened lives together without ancient mythology getting involved to symbolize something or whatever.

I still like the story, and the characters, and the trauma you can't help but feel during the course of the novel, but you don't have to make it pretentious for it to matter.

9/10

Buy it @ Amazon.
Buy it @ Barnes & Noble.