Graphic Novel Review - Southern Bastards Volume 1: Here Was A Man - Jason Aaron (Author) & Jason Latour (Illustrator)

Graphic Novel Review - Southern Bastards Volume 1: Here Was A Man - Jason Aaron (Author) & Jason Latour (Illustrator)

Recommended for 18+

I'm in love with Image Comics at the moment. Head over heels in love. They've produced so many fantastic series over the last couple of years that they've moved firmly into the position of 'favourite comic book publisher'. Black Science, Saga, Nailbiter...all fantastic, and if Volume 1 is anything to go by then Southern Bastards is going to sitting right at the top of the pile (alongside Saga, because it's Saga).

It's the story of Earl Tubb, returning home to Craw County, Alabama where he was brought up under the strict rule of his father, the sheriff. Nowadays, high school football coach Euless Boss has the petrified town in his grip, and Earl doesn't take kindly to that. Over the course of the story, we see Earl try to put the memories of his childhood to bed, whilst confronting the new menace of Boss, and holy shit is it fantastically good.

Ask me to put my finger on just what it is that makes the story so utterly readable and I can't do it; it's basically just everything adding up together. The script, the images that go with it, the mystery behind why everyone is so scared of Boss, the desire to see Earl get revenge, and not to mention the HOLY SHIT ending, it's all just mesmerising. Who doesn't love the image of an old guy with a legendary stick beating the crap out of gobby youths?

I'm sure the American South isn't all like the time of Craw County, but I'll certainly be weary of any high school football coaches if I pay a visit!

Could not be any more excited for Volume 2, just to see more of the history of Craw County, and the backstory of Boss. Essential reading for any graphic novel aficionados in 2015.

5/5

Graphic Novel Review - The Fuse Volume 1: The Russia Shift

Graphic Novel Review - The Fuse Volume 1: The Russia Shift

Recommended for Adults who love Sci-Fi and Crime

Image Comics are blowing me out of the water at the moment. Honestly, everything I read at the moment seems to be golden. From Black Science to Southern Bastards, Nailbiter to (obviously) Saga, it's series after series that I'm desperately trying to get everyone who comes into the library to read. I've always loved the stories that DC and Marvel have created, but I'm firmly in the third camp of Image at the moment for who the true masters of the graphic novel are.

The Fuse is no different. It's the story of Ralph Dietrich, homocide detective and recently reassigned to the Fuse, and his veteran partner, Sergeant Klem Ristovych. It's a strange world up there, with the death of a homeless person giving Dietrich his first case immediately.It should be open and shut, but when a second turns up dead it's clear that there's more to this than first thought, especially when there are implications that the Mayor's office might have some involvement...

As with all the best stories, the relationship between the main characters is fantastic here, as is their dialogue. Dietrich is trying to find his way in this new environment, while Ristovych has seen it all before but enjoys leaving Dietrich in the dark as long as possible. They make for a classic cop team that I'm quite happy to follow in further cases, he being not exactly the good cop, and her certainly not trying to be the overly co-operative and friendly one to anyone, even in her own department.

The setting is great, with the 'cablers' (homeloess) living inside the walls with their own rules that even a cop shouldn't dare break. It's almost dystopian without being dystopian, if that makes sense, a very familiar setting without being overly familiar. Houses with picket fences, for example, set on a space station.

The mystery behind the murders is nicely wrapped up within the story, so it'll be a brand new case next time around, but it was a great first standalone story with a satisfying reveal of the truth, and I look forward with much anticipation to the next one. This is a Sci-Fi Crime series that should be on everyone's radar.

5/5

Young Adult Book Review - Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass Book 3) - Sarah J Maas

Young Adult Book Review - Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass Book 3) - Sarah J Maas

Recommended for literally everyone. EVERYONE.

I received an ARC of Heir of Fire from Bloomsbury, in exchange for an honest review. I've literally just realised that I never posted that review (though I was convinced I had), so massive apologies to them, as I was so grateful to get to read it early. Letting the blogging world down there...

It's literally impossible to convey just how much I loved Heir of Fire. There hasn't been an author that has excited me as much as Sarah J Maas does in the past decade (or perhaps longer), and this was without doubt my most anticipated book of 2014. Was it also my favourite book of 2014? Hell yeah it was, and for me it's the best of the series so far as well.

It's also the longest, which can sometimes become a problem if you feel that the author is throwing everything they possibly can at you story-wise, rather than picking the most interesting and important parts (hello, ASOIAF...), but here it's needed to really tell Celaena's story of learning to harness her magic with the wonderfully uptight and mysterious Rowan in Wendlyn and beyond, whilst maintaining the danger that both Chaol and Dorian are in back home in Adarlan. The introduction of witch Manon is a welcome third storyline, as is the further exploration of the lore of the Wyrdkeys and Wyrdgates.

the main strength of the Throne of Glass series remains it's characters. I've never known anyone write dialogue that attracts me as well as Maas; it's snappy, realistic, and it's exactly how I wish I could write. Seriously, NO-ONE inspires me to write like she does. I've even written music for the series based on the feelings it stirs (currently at two tracks recorded but with plenty more written...www.youtube.com/bertass). I'm so completely engaged and wrapped up in this world that she's created that it really is hell waiting for the fourth book to come out. I need to know whether the feelings between Celaena and Rowan and just incredibly strong friendship or something more to come; I need to know whether Celaena and Chaol can ever work it out; I need to know just how Celaena is going to save the world and end the reign of the King of Adarlan; I need to know when it's all going to explode in one magic-fuelled battle orgy to rival anything seen in LOTR.

I also need to know when they're going to give the go ahead to the gritty television series starring Taylor Momsen as Celaena, because seriously, that's blatantly her on the cover.

New characters like Rowan and Aedion (pure bad-ass - Chris Jericho?) instantly belong alongside the established ones, building up this pantheon of legendary figures into one of my favourite literary casts of all time, with Celaena still at the head of it all. She would have united the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros by now, AND kept peace in Esos; she would have thrown the One Ring into Mount Doom far before Sam had to carry Frodo to the top; she'd just have given Voldemort the evil stare and he'd have crumbled, Elder Wand or none. To me, she's emblazoned in fantasy heroine law at the very top of everyone else, and I'm desperate to discover the next step along her fateful journey.

There isn't a single author that I recommend to the users of my library as much as Sarah J Maas; there's a whole new army of fans that I've managed to recruit because it's impossible for me NOT to gush about her work. I can feel my face light up and the passion start to brew as I find someone suitable to recommend to, and I'll continue to do it till I'm no longer breathing. If I make it to her latest book tour, I'm going to present her with a copy of all the music that she's inspired me to write for the series, and make sure she knows that without her, I wouldn't have picked up the fantasy trilogy that I started writing seven years ago, and be well on the way to completing it.

The Throne of Glass series is a complete must for any fantasy fans.

5/5

Thanks to Bloomsbury for letting me have an ARC of this, and apologies for the massive delay in putting up this review, which I thought I'd already done. I'm presuming that's why I was denied an ARC of A Court of Thorns and Roses, so now that I've apologise can I please have one?! Pretty please?!

Graphic Novel Review - Nailbiter Volume 1 - Joshua Williamson (Story)

Graphic Novel Review - Nailbiter Volume 1 - Joshua Williamson (Story) - Image Comics

Recommended for 18+

I've always felt that the pinnacle of stomach-churning, horrifying visuals in graphic novel form is Crossed. That seems to be a pretty common opinion, and it's going to take rather a lot to change my mind on that. Nailbiter gives it a good go in places, and though it's not quite as stomach-churning, it's a better story and it kept me hooked from start to finish.

NSA Agen Nicholas Finch has been brought to Buckaroo, Oregon by his FBI Profiler friend, Eliot Carroll, who believes he has solved the reason why there have been sixteen serial killers in the town and what links them together. He gets there to find that Carroll has disappeared, teaming up with Sheriff Crane to investigate, and reluctantly utilising the help of the Edward 'Nailbiter' Warren, a serial killer who was let off when the jury found him not guilty. When the bodies of some of the original town serial killers start to appear, the mystery deepens.

When I read Nailbiter, I really couldn't put it down. I'm still desperately awaiting Volume 2 so that I can continue the search for answers, following the deepening mysteries at the end of Volume 1. It reels you in and keeps you hooked perfectly, leading you down one way of thinking which turns out to be a dead end, then pulling the same trick a short while later. It's a truly creepy and spine-chilling tale, with a couple of moments that reminded me squarely of Crossed, as mentioned above.

Whereas with Crossed I admit I was mainly wondering what the hell I was going to be faced with visually on the next page, here I'm mainly focused on where the story is going to take me. There's a jarring style to the aforementioned visuals that help keep it dark and menacing, and there's several nailbiting moments (literally!) that linger in the memory.

For fans of mystery who don't mind being shocked by some disturbing visuals, this is a must see.

5/5