Crossover

Crossover

Crossover is a science fiction novel by Joel Shepherd. It was originally published in 2001 in Australia. I think it was also published somewhere in 2006, and finally, in this Pyr edition in 2009.  I  believe this is the author’s first published book. The cover illustration for my paperback edition was done by Stephan Martiniere.  My edition is 455 pages, but it took me half of forever to read it. As you can see, I finished the book in late December, but started it way back in August!

• 12/21 page 399
• 12/20 page 379
• 12/20 page 348
• 11/13 page 323
• 11/13 page 298
• 09/01 page 248
• 08/29 page 230
• 08/27 page 201
• 08/19 page 189
• 08/17 page 176
• 08/16 page 165
• 08/15 page 145
• 08/14 page 136

This book takes place in the far future. Cassandra Kresnov is a GI – an artifical lifeform.  She was designed to be a solider in the League.  She basically goes AWOL and heads to the planet Callay, where she attempts to start a new life as a “normal” organic person.  She is very much like a Terminator, except she’s described as being ridiculously beautiful.

The city that Kresnov joins is called Tanusha.  The city is a massive, giganic futuristic city that is people mainly with African, Asian, and Indian cultures.  This is significant and yet not all at once.  This adds a bit of “difference” compared to the typical science fiction novels that always seem very much to be based on, say, middle America.  However, while the author names characters with cultural names and dresses them in cultural clothing, that’s basically all the influence this has on the novel.

There’s also this “contemporary” thing with male authors writing about the sexual exploits of their female characters. Are they bisexual? Are they “loose”? It’s really odd stuff, not explicit or graphic so much as just really unnecessary for a quality story. Kresnov is a hypersexual – and the author really wants us to know that.

The best parts of the novel are the action parts.  These are actually very action-film-like and enjoyable.  Also, the author is obviously intelligent and he raises questions regarding what it means to be human, how politics affects civilization/culture, and a variety of ethics issues.  The author does this without preaching too much or hammering the reader over the head with any particular position.  Unfortunately, the author isn’t a good writer. While the story seems to be quite good and the questions raised in it are interesting to consider, the actual writing is pretty awful.

The worst part of the writing is the dialogue.  Characters all seem the same: emotionless, stilted, flatline. The reader is supposed to be interested in the SWAT Lieutenant Vanessa Rice’s thoughts and actions, but the writing makes Rice seem stilted and stereotyped.  The reader is supposed to really be drawn toward Kresnov – feel compassion for her, worry about her, etc.  However, the writing just can’t bridge that gap and make the reader really, truly care about Kresnov.  The other facet of the writing is Shepherd’s inability to decide to write in past or present tense. He has a horrible mess of sentence fragments, chopped and odd phrasing, and awkward wordplay.  Sometimes it’s just downright unbearable.

The science-fiction is pretty cool. I have to admit, it’s interesting. I liked reading about the biotech. But there were parts of the novel that just didn’t seem smooth and seemed too choppy or random. Honestly, it took me until the end of the book to really get a handle on who was fighting whom. There’s the League, the Federation, the CSA, etc. This is not a bad book, there’s a lot in here to really like.  However, this is also a bad book, because it’s just awkward and messy.

I have the next two books that complete the series, but I cannot imagine reading them. They should be really good, but how will I make it through them!

2 stars

Soulless

Soulless by Gail Carriger was published in 2009 by Orbit.  It is the first book of the “Parasol Protectorate” series starring, I assume, the character Alexia Tarabotti. My copy came with a small interview with the author and I went to her website.  Ms. Carriger is amusing and witty. Honestly, the novel itself is neither erudite or exceedingly intelligent, I feel like Carriger could easily write much more intelligent novels.  However, I’m not sure she really needs to. After all, I found this novel to be rather entertaining.

The basic idea of the novel is that since the “dark ages,” Europe (especially England) has come to terms with the existence of supernaturals – and the supernaturals have mostly integrated into the normal society.  The Crown has advisors who are supernaturals and help her to make national decisions.  Many of the upper crust of society contains both normals and supernaturals – including the supporting main character, Lord Macon, who is a werewolf.  Werewolves live in packs lead by alphas (Lord Macon is an alpha) and live in districts/counties.  Lord Macon also runs the BUR, which is a department which monitors supernatural activity in the district.

It has been said that this novel is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.  That is probably true.  This is basically a spoof of “Victorian ideals” and the current obsession with Vampires and Werewolves in mass media entertainment. Carriger writes a very funny spoof. It’s not entirely intended as a spoof, of course. However, it was amusing enough to read the interactions between Alexia and the “upper-crust” of society as well as the interactions between the servants of the vampire/werewolf community.

Alexia is a fun character because she is stubborn and outspoken. She doesn’t fit into the society like she should and she possesses a lot more bravery and knowledge than her peers.  This is what attracts her to Lord Macon – and he to her. The sex in the book is really comical, a bit too much of it for my tastes – even though it’s not entirely graphic.

I would like to read the next book in the series.  It probably will not be just more of the same, because the end of Soulless leaves Alexia in some interesting circumstances and I’d be interested in seeing what happens next.  It’s not something that I am really burning to read, but I suppose for a light read that would be fine. Carriger obviously has a well-developed sense of humor and can channel classic English novels into a light novel.

3 stars

Justice Society of America #1 (2007)

Justice Society of America, DC Comics, cover #1

I have already given this beautiful cover a “cover of the month” award.  I am finally getting around to reviewing it now, though. The cover was done, obviously, by the inimitable Alex Ross. And is somewhat of an homage cover to All Star Comics #3 from 1940 and the variant is an homage to All Star Squadron #1 (1981).  The 1940 All Star Comics cover was done by Everett E. Hibbard.

All Star Comics #3 1940 cover

The 2007 issue was written by DC Comics’ star writer Geoff Johns.  The issue starts off with the three big superheroes of DC (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) approaching Wildcat, Flash, and Green Lantern of the Society after WWIII.  The “trinity” say that the planet needs the Justice Society and that the Society is more like a family and a moral compass than the Justice League is.  So, on the second page of the issue we are already given some of the baseline concept for this volume of the Justice Society of America.

There are two main stories going on in this issue. One is Green Lantern, Flash, and Wildcat acting as leaders of the JSA and selecting veteran members.  They select to draft Stargirl, Power Girl, Liberty Bell, Dr. Mid-Nite, Mr. Terrific, and Hourman.  And then, these members go out to recruit younger members who have some connection to the old JSA.  Wildcat, grumpy as always, reminisces on the old days and is reluctant to help Green Lantern and Flash. Wildcat feels alone and isolated – until the end of the issue when Green Lantern and Flash show Wildcat that he has a teenage son named Tom.    The second story running through the issue deals with Mr. America, an ex-FBI agent who is still tracking down and punishing criminals.

The characterizations are excellently done.  Each character is different – and the reader can tell that Johns spent time giving each of his characters personality, identity, attitude, and background.  I particularly enjoyed the pages introducing us to Maxine Hunkel and Starman.  These sections were really interesting and fun and, in a way, played the flip side to the solemn and gritty Mr. America storyline.

The interior art was done by Dale Eaglesham and it’s fantastic. The art makes the story easy to follow. It is uncluttered and yet dynamic.  The facial expressions are dead-on and the personality of the characters shines through.  The framing of the art is well-done, which is not something I find myself saying very often.  But overall the art has this sort of “classic” JSA / superhero book feel to it – but done in a fresh, colorful manner. If this was 2007, and I read this issue, I would tell you this series will run for as long as the quality remains near this level.  After reading the first issue, I certainly wanted to read the next and I think this issue far exceeds issue #1 of Justice League of America (2006).

It’s Wednesday. They’re serving sloppy joes tonight.  Do you like sloppy joes as much as I do?” – Starman

5 stars

X-Men: Schism #1

X-Men Schism #1 cover

The first point I’d like to make here is that this miniseries/mini-event was written by Jason Aaron who is my favorite comic writer. I mention this because I admit that I am slightly biased in my review because, well, Aaron rocks and I want to see him succeed and be writing comics for a very, very long time. Yep, total fanboy loser here and not caring!

This mini-event called Schism is a five-issue limited series involving the X-Men.  There was a four-issue miniseries entitled Prelude to Schism that was released prior to this series. I did not buy it or read it, but I know that it focuses on four major leaders of the X-Men community and their role as leader.  However, I did read all of the X-Men series volume that started in 2010 as well as the Wolverine 2010 volume. So, I was up-to-date with those before reading this first issue of Schism.

Now, as is my usual method, let me discuss the cover. I did not get any variants, just got the standard first printing issue.  And I am disappointed.  The artwork for issue was was drawn (interior and cover) by Carlos Pacheco. The main reason that I am disappointed is because the cover is just an adjustment of a scene from the interior art.  In other words, this is no special exciting cover.  And that is disappointing because this Schism event was really publicized as a big deal; so not having a truly separate piece of art for the cover somewhat belies that sentiment.  That being said…. the frame in the interior of the comic that is similar to the piece shown on the cover is absolutely fantastic. It’s exciting, active, and entirely without words. No dialogue or exposition, just a two-page centerfold spread of Cyclops and Wolverine destroying Sentinels.  Pacheco’s art here is fantastic – it really should be made into a poster and plastered on all the X-Men fans’ walls. It’s fun and classic-feeling to see these two X-Men taking out the baddies without any cluttering words, just good old head-popping battle.

The issue (event) starts out with Wolverine arriving on the X-Men island, Utopia, with his uniform in tatters and with arrows and throwing stars actually sticking out of his flesh.  He looks rough.  I read some other reviews and people did not quite understand these frames – why does Wolverine look like this?  Honestly, it’s all contained in the recent issues of Wolverine.  He was fighting the Red Right Hand and it got pretty messy for him.  Sure, he wasn’t wearing the same costume, but it IS comics and that IS a different comic title. Anyway, I just assumed that this mess is due to that storyarc in the Wolverine title. (Which, by the way, Jason Aaron is also writing.)

Most of the next chunk of the issue deals with the interactions between Cyclops and Wolverine.  There are some really nice frames of both writing and art.  Some readers did not like the interactions between Cyclops and Wolverine. Some felt that Wolverine was out of character or that the interactions were forced.  Honestly, I have to disagree because I feel Wolverine’s responses were very sensible based on his recent adventures in the Wolverine title. For 17 issues in that series, Wolverine has been punished and beaten and tortured especially by people throwing his mistakes and troubles in his face.  I mean, literally, he went to hell itself.  So, Wolverine probably is going to feel a bit of guilt and remorse and treat Cyclops with a bit of respect.  Not to say that Wolverine is some sort of happy chum.  He is quite grouchy here, too.

Kid Omega’s entrance…. yeah… really… lame and laughable. However, I feel that the reader was supposed to realize how lame and laughable it was.  I do not feel it was supposed to be an entrance of some really slick badass.  Like most things in the real world, major catastrophes start because some dumbass did something ridiculous.  Kid Omega’s telepathic compulsion enacted on all the government leaders was really cool, though. And I admit it did make me wonder how that would be in real life. Aaron, you are such a cynic!  But also, most importantly, Aaron references “The Revolution Will Not be Televised.”  That is so cool. Back when all the Occupy Wherever started, I was listening to that song thinking it was so apropos. [For the record, I do not support Occupy Anything.]  But kudos to Aaron for working that gem into a comic book!

For some reason, and contrary to all likelihood, I have taken a fondness to Emma Frost – and NOT because she runs around like a naked Hooters girl.  Something about her uppity, bitchy attitude has been amusing in recent X-titles (LOL – even that is punny!)   Anyway, I liked her and Storm in this issue. They were supporting roles, but somehow done quite well.  Cyclops (whom I never liked) has always been a whiny, annoying, jerk. So, even though he’s trying to act all leader-adult-bitter here, I still don’t like him.

However, there are some excellent awesome frames in this issue – again without words – wherein we see the Sentinels of various countries.  China, Egypt, Russia, Paris. And these frames are awesome. Really. Pacheco gets a gold star! Excellent artwork.

Overall, the villainous plot and the mastermind is a bit ridiculous and absurd. However, it is the first of five issues and I am willing to wait and see how this plays out before I am going to make a judgment on the villains. I am skeptical, but it’s too early to start a critique.  And I am quite interested to get reading the rest of the miniseries. This did not get awesome ratings from many readers/reviewers whom I usually trust.  Frankly, I don’t know what they were looking for if they didn’t find it in this issue. Sometimes, it’s too easy to just be negative right out of the gate, I think.

4 stars