Jeff James

An Unwelcome Quest: The Book That Reviews Itself

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An Unwelcome Quest is the third book in the Magic 2.0 series. The first two weren’t perfect by any means, but they were at least funny and light on their feet whereas this one quickly wears out its welcome. It’s a huge shame, because this series was exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to have a few laughs during my commute. One definite bright side is that Luke Daniels continues to bring his A-game as narrator. Also, I occasionally enjoyed the last quarter or so after gritting my teeth and slogging through the fairly dire middle.

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Netflix for Books: Scribd vs Kindle Unlimited

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People keep trying to make “Netflix for books” happen. It’s probably because someone out there thinks I don’t have enough to read. I was definitely skeptical about these services at first because I have always been perfectly happy getting too many books from my local library. However, once they started introducing options that included audiobooks and comic books, it wasn’t long before I gave a few of the all-you-can-read services a spin. Luckily, most of them offer a free trial month, so it was easy for me to get sucked in.

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Wayward Volume One: Pretty But Empty

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The art in Wayward Volume One is probably the best part of an otherwise cliché book. The backgrounds are gritty and realistic in a way that feels completely grounded, and the character art is bright and stylized. Unfortunately, all that beautiful art is in service of story about yet another teenager discovering hidden magical powers and using them to fight monsters.

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Rat Queens: Everything’s Coming Up Tentacles

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Rat Queens is a modern spin on classic fantasy tropes that plays within those boundaries while also subverting clichés, and does so with a light touch. It has a great premise: a group of rowdy adventurers in a fantasy world fight, fuck, and generally incite civic destruction. The twist is that they’re all women, and they are surrounded by other adventuring parties with similar mixes of race and gender.

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Lucky Alan: When the End Comes

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The only thing I remember about Jonathan Lethem’s first collection of short stories is that he really liked abrupt endings. Lucky Alan is no different. Sometimes the endings work, and sometimes the stories just feel unfinished. That’s probably why this collection has so many one-star ratings – people assume that Lethem is trying to pawn off his fragments on an unsuspecting public, and they react with vehemence.

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The Awesome: Sex, Blood & Monster Hunters

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The Awesome has a fantastic cover. Even though the main character is a monster-hunting teenage girl, she isn’t pictured striking a pose in skintight jeans. Instead, we’re treated to a stylized green vampire skull and the title in hot pink graffiti. This cover is by far one of the book’s best assets, and it also does a great job of setting the tone for the book itself: fast, loud and a little punk

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The Fold: Inter-Dimensional Holmes

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In The Fold, teleportation is a reality… but it’s not quite ready for public consumption. Mike Erikson, a man with an eidetic memory, is hired to find out why the scientists involved refuse to share their invention with the world. Thanks to his observational skills and analytical mind, he soon discovers that things are not what they seem and that “the fold” is far more dangerous than anyone ever imagined.

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The Wicked + The Divine: Exploding Beauty

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The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 1: The Faust Act Written by: Kieron Gillen Illustrated by: Jamie McKelvie Colored by: Matt Wilson Published: November 12th 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Genre(s): Fantasy, Graphic Novel Format: Paperback Length: 144 pages The Wicked + The Divine takes celebrity worship to an extreme and imagines a world where the … Read more

The Bunker: Apocalyptic Wish Fulfillment

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In The Bunker, five friends decide to bury a time capsule in the woods, only to find the titular bunker when they start digging. Once inside the bunker, they discover letters from their future selves, who somehow sent a bunker full of evidence back in time to warn their younger selves about the impending apocalypse they will have a part in causing. It turns out this innocuous-looking group of young people includes a future president, a soon-to-be brilliant scientist and several other eventual movers-and-shakers. Heavy stuff for a bunch of recent college grads, no?

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Sex Criminals: This Raunchy Joke Goes Deep

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Sex Criminals, Volume One: One Weird Trick Written By: Matt Fraction Art By: Chip Zdarsky Published: April 29th 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Genre(s): Graphic Novel, Comedy, Surrealism, Sex, Romance Format: Paperback Length: 128 pages Sex Criminals is a bit of a phenomenon. It’s one of those books that I heard a lot about before I … Read more

A Few of My Reading Statistics from 2014

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Number of books I read last year: 53 2014 was the first year in a good long while where it felt like I might fall short of my reading goal. I’d originally challenged myself to read 75 books – I’ve easily read at least that many for the past few years – but it wasn’t long … Read more

Alex + Ada, Volume 1: Artificial Love Story #999

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Alex + Ada, Volume 1 Art: Jonathan Luna Script: Sarah Vaughn Published: July 29, 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Genre(s): Science Fiction, Romance Format: Paperback Length: 128 pages Alex + Ada opens with its sad-sack main character, Alex, waking up to yet another mundane workday. Alex, we discover, is still pining after his most recent ex-girlfriend … Read more