Tapping the Vein

av Clive Barker

en samling mer eller mindre läskiga och äckliga noveller i serieform. vissa är riktigt bra, andra bara...märkliga... läs om slaktaren i tunnelbanan, den återuppväckta statyn eller giganternas kamp så ser du vad jag menar...

gillar du barkers verk, creepy stuff i allmänhet eller splatter i serieform kanske detta är något för dig. för mig...medium. har läst både bättre och sämre så därför får den ett medelbetyg; 2,5. inte riktigt medium, men klart bättre än att den lämnade mig likgiltig.

1001 nights of snowfall

jag gillar hela fables-serien för dess traditionella sagoarv, men med en omisskännlig twist... eller vad sägs om guldlock - den största terroristen i skogen som bildat motståndsrörelse med bla de tre björnarna...snövit - sviken av både sin syster (som hade sex med snövits man, prince charming) och sin man (som har sex med alla prinsessor i sagan...det finns ju bara en prince charming i sagorna...eller? ;-), ja det finns mååånga fler...

Lånade denna bok av Magnus och den blev liggande lite innan jag läste klart den. som titeln anger är det en twist på tusen och en natt, men ger samtidigt en hel del backstory till fabletown och hur det blev som det blev. jag gillar det! vackra illustrationer är det också i hela boken, vilket bidrar till min 4a i betyg!

Camelot 3000 (serie)

arthursagan har alltid faschinerat mig och det var med stor spänning jag lånade camelot 3000 på biblioteket. en del saker var helt klart intressanta medan andra bara var...skumma...

handlingen är förlagd till england år 3000 då en utomjordisk makt invarderar jorden och vi jordlingar är totalt underlägsna och står inför total utrotning. då hittar en arkeolog av en slump kistan där kung arthur sover och råkar väcka honom. kung arthur visar sig vara en kämpe att räkna med även på 3000-talet och efter att ha väckt några av sina gamla riddare och bundsförvanter från fordom tar han sig snart an den utomjordiska invasionsarmén...

jag kan förlåta en hel del friheter författarna tagit sig i den här serien; att man gjort sir tristram till transsexuell, att sir galahad är ett monster, att merlin är djävulens son, att häxorna knappt har en tråd på kroppen...men varför har man gjort arthur så korkad?!! han kan verkligen bara en enda sak och det är att slåss, annars är han en av de dummaste varelser som gått i ett par skor. DET har jag svårt att få ihop med historien och det bidrar till det låga betyget.

är du mycket förtjust i arthurmyterna - läs den som kuriosa - annars kan du lika gärna strunta i det...

betyg: 2

Manhunter (serie)

tja, vad kan man säga...? manhunter är en "superhjälte-vigilante" som egentligen inte är en superhjälte utan en vanlig åklagare som fått fatt i utomjordisk teknik, vilket hon utnyttjat för att skapa sig en dräkt och ett vapen som nästan gör henne till en äkta superhjälte. de bovar som lyckas slippa igenom rättvisans nät jagar hon upp efter arbetstid...

manhunter lyckas med konststycket att vara nyskapande och samtidigt ganska tråkig och jag kan inte med gott samvete rekommendera den - trots att den inte alls är dålig - bara...tråkig...

betyg: 2,5

Valiant – a modern fairy tale

Valiant – a modern fairy tale, by Holly Black **

I read Tithe by the same author a year or so ago and loved it. I am sorry to say that Valiant is pretty much the same story, only without the elements that made Tithe so lovable.

A young girl – Val – runs away from her home and fins some squatters in New York whom she decides to stay with. These three teenagers, Lolli, Dave and Loui, run errands to pay of a debt, but when their customers start dying, they quickly get a lot of nasty surprises.
For one, their dept holder is a troll.
Second, the customers are fairies – mermaids, ogres, and so on.
Thirdly, the ‘fairy dust’ they’ve been delivering has a real kick on humans – it almost makes them fairies themselves. But it is very, very addictive.

This story is trying to be a love story, a growing-up story, an adventure story all at once. It’s...barely making it. Mostly because apart from Val there is no one really likable in this story. Even one of my all-time favourites the now Elven King of the Unseelie Court, Rath Roiben Ray, makes a very bleak (ha! the pun!) appearance.
But I kind of liked the troll Ravus.
Not really worth the effort, but at the other hand the story barely offers any resistance, so any effect of effort is quickly paid of. Buy and read for a train ride, and expect no more, no less.

Oh, yes an other question that begs to be addressed…a lot of people (read: Americans) seem horribly offended by the fact that there is a relationship between an older woman and a teenage boy. He is seventeen. He’s above the age of consent. It’s not a crime. Get over it.
Or at least, be offended by the drug abuse questions, the theft or the lot more squicky relation going down (se below). Honestly, some people…

Spoiler: Highlight to see.
Hmm….in Tithe, the girl gets the elven King. In Valiant, the girl gets the troll. Blacks taste’s are rapidly deteriorating…..

Scraps: And you know the Ring-tequila game? Might be done in this book using the word ‘urine’. Just call 112 first.

More scraps: All the little details, such as referring to Warcraft and (I’m not kidding here) Really supposed to be King, will mean this book is as outdated as I am in just a few years.

Nightcrawler – the Winding Way

Nightcrawler – the Winding Way ***

Alright, so I’m a sucker for pointy ears. And I prefer my heroes to not be so damn human. What else is new? So, I miss my devilish-trickster. Thus the picture.

In this sort-of-follow-up on The Devil Inside Nightcrawler again has to battle the occult forces of Hell that seem to have some sort of personal issue with the devil-looking mutant. As it turns out, they do.
Tracking his own past with the help of Wolverine (who is really worried about his friend) and nurse Palmer (who still seem intent of getting him in a shower – Kurt, that is, not Logan), Kurt seems to be always one step behind. Some unknown force of evil is going rampant on Kurts past, killing the circus people he used to live with, torturing his foster sister and really upsetting his foster mother. (Not a wise choice, that last one.) But what they really want might be buried deeper than Kurt is prepared to dig…Literally. And in the end, it all comes down to if you’re ready to deal with the Devil or not…for the sake of those you love and loved.

Not so many shower scenes (thank Gods) but an amazingly large amount of strategically torn uniforms. And even more manly angst than in tDI; even Wolverine is scooping it out in this one. The only really fun scene is when Wolvie gets possessed, and his soul gets stuck in Hell. I suppose Hell looks different to everyone.
Snigger snigger.
Following this is of course a splendid scene of Wolvie and Fuzzy Elf bashing it out in a circus mirror-room. Always knew something like that would end in this way, didn’t I? ;oP
Ah well, this was the last of the Nightcrawler albums, although with this ending there is bound to be a sequel (I hope). Now what shall I do? No more pointy blue ears, alas….Hey, maybe I can get a hold on some Gambit albums! Red demon eyes aren’t pointy ears, but in these dull days I’ll take what I can get.
Quote (Wolverine, Gods damn it…):
“You know, the only thing I hate more than light beer is ramping hordes of zombies! ..Luckily, I've got nowhere else to be.”

Nightcrawler - The devil inside

Nightcrawler – The devil inside

I am aghast. Appalled. Ashamed over myself.
Again.
What. The Bloody Hell. Happened?
Where is the happy-go-luck, swashbuckling, almost manopositive fuzzy elf? Where is my not-human-looking trickster? Who is this?
And where is his cute accent, btw?

Thirteen children have died absolutely horribly in a closed, guarded facility. One boy survived, but he’s so traumatized he wont speak about what happened. Only someone with teleporting abilities could have accessed the room, and we all know who that is, don’t we? Trying to solve the murders, save the boy (who is terrified at his appearance) and clearing his name, Kurt Wagner (tze encredeble Nightcrawler) sets out through Hell, shadows and limbo.
This is an interesting series, but…
….but it isn’t Nightcrawler!

He looks very human (only blue and with a tail and no pupils…alright, but you know what I mean).
He has no accent.
He has no sense of humour at all (I’ll never live down this but…Wolverine is the funniest person in this story. And he’s got a really cool hat, too)
He’s got an intimacy problem with women so huge it makes Wolvie look normal.
There are so many Nightcrawler-in-the-shower scenes you start to get suspicious.
The most interesting person around is Kurts foster-sister/ ex-lover (and that’s just plain icky) Amanda.

I am so disappointed I’ll sulk for a week. Why, oh why does some people find it impossible to leave some of their natural humour to the PECS? Legolas, Nithcrawler…it’s a conspiracy, I tell you…

Quote:
Your two gay pet snakes have heard rumors? About Satans most inner cirkel? Like his book club you mean?

Scraps:
This is the 4:th book with a title starting ‘night’ that I review here (Nightcrawler, Nightwatch (Lukyanenko), Nightrunners, Nightwatch (Pratchett) . Hrm…something Freudian, mayhap? ;oP

Wolverine

Wolverine ***(av 5)

I am aghast. Appalled. Ashamed over myself. I figured reading a Wolverine comic would be a bit like reading a comic about the World Wrestling Federation. You know, a lot of huge, sweating men slugging it out.
It still sort of is.
It’s just that I...kind of liked it.
My Gods, but I feel so dirty.

Maybe it’s the fact that he did have a character, and that it was at least moderately cute. Like, when he goes from calling Nightcrawler ‘misfit’ to ‘elf’ to the positively affectionate ‘fuzzy elf’. Those two actually seem to be good friends (!) Or when he screws up his relationship with every woman he ever meets. Including the one with his adopted Japanese daughter. Still, he makes me kind of queasy with his “bad- boy- if- it- moves- kill- it” moral, and his really annoying “cooler-than-thou” attitude.No, I haven’t fallen yet. But for a while there, I was stumbling very close to the edge.