Reflecting on 2015

2015. What a year.

I started this blog at the end of 2014. At the beginning of 2015, there wasn't a single review post on here - just a bunch of randomness. (I beg you not to look at my first posts - the embarrassment!)

The look of my blog was completely different. I didn't have a profile picture (and now I have a hand-drawn mythological bird avatar to bring me luck and/or help me communicate with the dead - yay!)

Basically, at the beginning of 2015 I was one hell of a newbie as a blogger.

I hope that my posts, my reviews, my randomness, have helped to make this blog something you want to actually read (please! O.O) - I certainly think that I've grown as a blogger and a writer and what-have-you (but then, if I didn't I wouldn't be writing this post.)

I certainly post more frequently now - and I think I'm starting to get the hang of reviewing, as well as being open and hopefully entertaining.

Some things don't change though - I still love books, and I still drink far too much coffee. And I still try to be honest and genuine in everything that I post here!

Friday Fics Fix - Christmas-y Fics!!!

Christmas is coming! We all know what that means... silly Christmas fan-fiction!!! Wooo!!!!

How Loki Stole Christmas by kel25 is amazing.

It's an Avengers-themed Loki-centric parody of How the Grinch Stole Christmas... what could be better, I mean really?

A Hogwarts Christmas by Car Car is a fic from wa-a-ay back in 2001.

It's another parody (yay, parodies! (I think I need less coffee, or maybe I'm just excited about Christmas)) of a well-known Christmas poem: 'A Visit From St Nicholas' perhaps better-known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.'

This is Harry Potter themed with Dumbledore and the Weasleys - just great.

In a similar vein is Twas The Night Before Christmas by awakened-earth a Sherlock fanfic (as in, BBC's Sherlock.)

It's barmy, and made me smile like a fool when I read it. Which is what I want from my ridiculous Christmas fan-fiction goddammit!!!

Friday Fics Fix is going to take a little break over Christmas - it'll be back on Friday, 8th January, assuming I'm able to face reading more fanfiction again by that point :)

Comics Wrap Up - The End of the World

Film Trailers

X-Men: Apocalypse trailer time! This looks ultimately awesome.

For those who don't know, Apocalypse is one of the main storylines in the X-men world - and as the movies have, by now, covered most of the other big storylines, it's time to bring out the big guns.

And yes, that is the chick (Sophie Turner) who plays Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones - here she's Jean Grey. Make of that what you will; I'm personally neither a Jean or a Sansa fan, but they're fairly similar characters at the end of the day, so the casting is accurate if nothing else.

AND DOES NO-ONE ELSE SEE NIGHTCRAWLER IN THERE?!?!?! Sorry, I really love Nightcrawler. Like... so much!

Of course, it'll take a lot to make me forget Floop (civilian name - Alan Cumming,) as Nightcrawler in X-men 2.

Apparently we'll also see how Prof X (James McAvoy - returning to the part he played in X-Men: First Class, and X-Men: Days of Future Past) becomes bald. Good times.

Graphic Novels

In terms of graphic novels, this week I read The Private Eye: Deluxe Edition, a dystopian-type tale told in pop-art bright artwork, with a lot of blood slashed through for good measure. It was enjoyable and intriguing, but certainly isn't for everyone. You can see my full review here.

Hitler's Germany Through My Letterbox

Received another fab-looking book today in the post from UK publishers Headline (in exchange for a fair and honest review, ofc.)

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman is a YA novel about a girl who was once a member of Hitler's inner-circle, and now must return to Germany in order to save the boy she loves, journalist Daniel Cohen.

Looks like there's some conspiracy, some stuff that's all action-y, and some historical stuff. Good stuff all round then. You know I'm a sucker for an intriguing premise.

This is a sequel to Blankman's previous book, Prisoner of Night and Fog. I haven't read that book, so am hoping this can be read stand-alone (and I don't see why it shouldn't be! Goddammit!)

So, expect a review in the (hopefully) near-future.

Buy Now UK - Buy Now USA - Goodreads - Author's Site

The Writer Diaries (or, Blogging is a Fickle Mistress)

You may have noticed... I tend to blog. Quite a bit more recently, in fact.

NaBloPoMo 2015 kind of sparked a dormant blogging demon that I didn't notice I had. I suppose it's not that big a surprise, a blogging demon is just a type of writing demon, and I have plenty of those.

But blogging can be fickle. I have absolutely no bl**dy clue whether a post is going to be popular before it's out there, in the big wide world, for everyone to see (and for quite a few people not to see I suspect.)

I can spend ages planning out and writing a post, for it to get a handful of views. But my most popular post to date, The Bookish Rebel, is a post that I wrote all-at-once in the space of about quarter of an hour, basically just about me being me.

Don't get me wrong - I'm mightily proud of that post! Neither will I let myself get sloppy and just throw posts up willy-nilly (pride comes before a fall and all that jazz.)

I guess this post is just me having a think about blogging in general - and writing - and all of that. I may be rambling, it wouldn't be the first time! :)

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Teaser Trailer

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

It looks awesome - just from the teaser trailer here, doesn't it?

Eddie Redmayne - and magic - and a period setting. Yes, we have a Harry Potter spin-off people! I just wish it was in readable form. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

Happy reading! :)

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - The Private Eye Deluxe Edition by Vaughan, Martin, and Vicente

Title: The Private Eye Deluxe Edition. (US link.)

Author: Brian K Vaughan, Marcos Martin, Muntsa Vicente.

Genre: Graphic Novel, Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Crime.

Series: The Private Eye.

Release Date: 15th Dec 2015.

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

 

I didn't have a clue what this would be like - I was sort of vaguely aware that Brian K Vaughan had written the Saga series (US link); but then, I haven't read that either! 

This collects The Private Eye #1-#10.
 

Premise:

In a world where the Internet is gone, and privacy is so sacred that people acquire aliases and wear complex and bizarre masks just to hide their identity, P. I. - a private investigator - has stumbled onto something serious.

Best bits:

The art here pops. I know that people say that a lot - but I mean it. The bright colours give this a pop-art does-the-apocalypse kind of feel, and the in-silhouette panels are beautiful. Some of the artwork here also reminds me a little of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba's Umbrella Academy series (US link) (though I have to say that I much prefer Way and Ba's series.)

I like the Big Brother (1984) kind of feel-y to the plot and the world here - with the teevees etc.

I also love the way the press and the police are the same thing here - that made me giggle for reasons I don't totally understand.

Not so great bits:

This is not your book if you're squeamish about bright blood slashed across the page, or violence and swearing in general.

There's also some sexual content that really did feel that it was just there for the shock value rather than anything else - it didn't bother me, but it just felt superfluous.

I did find that sometimes the lettering was a bit squished together, which made it difficult to read occasionally.

Verdict:

An enjoyable read, which whizzes along and has a distinct style and bright in-your-face edge. If you're a fan of quirky graphic novels, then you'll enjoy this book.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA - Goodreads – Author's Image Comics Page