Saga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SSaga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SAGA, and after moving to London last summer we recently popped into Forbidden Planet in Soho, and that store is an absolute treasure trove of SF comics, books, and other fan goodies. There are so many enticing comics on offer there, you could spend your entire salary in one wild shopping spree. When I saw Vol 8 of SAGA with Wild West cover art among the new releases, I knew I had to have it.
SAGA is my favorite comic series, because it is always pushing the envelope in terms of content, themes, gorgeously assured and sometimes shocking artwork, and characters so charming, honest and flawed that you can’t help but cheer for them. If you like intelligent, snarky, sometimes profane space opera with a vast cast of star-crossed lovers, bounty-hunters, humanoid robots, tabloid reporters, terrifying monsters, and oddball creatures all caught up in a galactic war between the technology-based Wings and magic-wielding Horns of Wreath and Landfall, this series is guaranteed to captivate.
In Vol 8, Marko, Alana, Hazel, Prince Robot, and Petrichor find themselves on a remote Wild West planet. The traumatic events on planet Phang are still lingering, and they are in desperate need of an emergency medical procedure (any more details would be a spoiler). Once again writer Vaughan is unafraid to tackle a sensitive subject with the opening panel. And while I thought this time the story sometimes felt like it was purely a vehicle for political debate and hurt the story’s momentum, I applaud his willingness to put his characters in contentious moral situations. It’s a trademark of the entire series, love it or hate it.
While Petrichor encounters some Wild West outlaws, Alana, Marko, and Hazel hitch a ride on a train and meet up a very unexpected new character that quickly bonds with Hazel. In fact, Alana has discovered some surprising new powers that may be connected to this. Finally Alana and Marko reach their destination and the doctor they’ve been seeking. The dialogue sounds like something from a TV talk show debate, but then that’s what Vaughan wants to talk about, so that’s what we get. I thought this part of Vol 8 dragged, as the characters debate the merits of their actions. Likewise, Petrichor and Prince Robot are another odd partnership and have many arguments over gender, war, and politics. I liked the story of Hazel and her new friend Kurti better. There were a number of poignant moments as they innocently discuss the world of adults, and this section will appeal to parents, siblings, and those aspiring to become one. Again, this part is very well-written and didn’t feel as forced as their earlier parts.
In the next chapter, we once again see what The Will has been up to, and he’s not in a good place. Seems that one of the many individuals he’s casually killed during his illustrious freelance bounty hunter career had a loved one who has tracked him down to exact revenge. This person has decided to really torture him by going through his old memories. We get to see some scenes from The Will’s childhood and early days as a bounty hunter with The Stalk. Artist Fiona Staples treats us to the ultra-violent action that the series generally features. I’m sometimes unsure if Vaughan & Staples show gruesome violence for the vicarious thrills, or as a technique to highlight that killing is not clean and anonymous like storm-troopers in Star Wars. Considering that his old sins are now catching up with The Will, I would hazard a guess its’ the latter. Eventually, his tormentor unearths a very valuable secret from his memories, though it’s no secret to readers.
In the final chapter, we rejoin Upsher, the gay tabloid journalist, Ghus the little prairie-dog warrior with a sense of justice, and the innocent young son of Prince Robot, Squire. They have an adventure in the forest, seeking the fearsome Dread Naught, and Ghus and the young robot have some interesting discussions about what situations justify fighting and killing to protect yourself. Vol 8 ends on an upbeat note, quite the opposite of the dark final panels of Vol 7.
Now that the series has reached 48 episodes and eight volumes, it has settled down to a more thoughtful pace, and while I think it does lack the intensity of the first four volumes and over-indulges in overt political themes that didn’t really carry the story forward much, I think Vaughan feels that he’s earned the loyalty of readers enough to be able to explore such themes with less propulsive action and more discourse. Again, I really appreciate that SAGA is not about escapism, its about our messy world, war, injustice, intolerance, innocence and cruelty, and most importantly the decisions we must make each day to get to the next day. That’s what keeps the series relevant and fresh – it’s real and funny and heartbreaking, often in rapid succession. Give it a try if you haven’t yet.
Merged review:
Saga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SAGA, and after moving to London last summer we recently popped into Forbidden Planet in Soho, and that store is an absolute treasure trove of SF comics, books, and other fan goodies. There are so many enticing comics on offer there, you could spend your entire salary in one wild shopping spree. When I saw Vol 8 of SAGA with Wild West cover art among the new releases, I knew I had to have it.
SAGA is my favorite comic series, because it is always pushing the envelope in terms of content, themes, gorgeously assured and sometimes shocking artwork, and characters so charming, honest and flawed that you can’t help but cheer for them. If you like intelligent, snarky, sometimes profane space opera with a vast cast of star-crossed lovers, bounty-hunters, humanoid robots, tabloid reporters, terrifying monsters, and oddball creatures all caught up in a galactic war between the technology-based Wings and magic-wielding Horns of Wreath and Landfall, this series is guaranteed to captivate.
In Vol 8, Marko, Alana, Hazel, Prince Robot, and Petrichor find themselves on a remote Wild West planet. The traumatic events on planet Phang are still lingering, and they are in desperate need of an emergency medical procedure (any more details would be a spoiler). Once again writer Vaughan is unafraid to tackle a sensitive subject with the opening panel. And while I thought this time the story sometimes felt like it was purely a vehicle for political debate and hurt the story’s momentum, I applaud his willingness to put his characters in contentious moral situations. It’s a trademark of the entire series, love it or hate it.
While Petrichor encounters some Wild West outlaws, Alana, Marko, and Hazel hitch a ride on a train and meet up a very unexpected new character that quickly bonds with Hazel. In fact, Alana has discovered some surprising new powers that may be connected to this. Finally Alana and Marko reach their destination and the doctor they’ve been seeking. The dialogue sounds like something from a TV talk show debate, but then that’s what Vaughan wants to talk about, so that’s what we get. I thought this part of Vol 8 dragged, as the characters debate the merits of their actions. Likewise, Petrichor and Prince Robot are another odd partnership and have many arguments over gender, war, and politics. I liked the story of Hazel and her new friend Kurti better. There were a number of poignant moments as they innocently discuss the world of adults, and this section will appeal to parents, siblings, and those aspiring to become one. Again, this part is very well-written and didn’t feel as forced as their earlier parts.
In the next chapter, we once again see what The Will has been up to, and he’s not in a good place. Seems that one of the many individuals he’s casually killed during his illustrious freelance bounty hunter career had a loved one who has tracked him down to exact revenge. This person has decided to really torture him by going through his old memories. We get to see some scenes from The Will’s childhood and early days as a bounty hunter with The Stalk. Artist Fiona Staples treats us to the ultra-violent action that the series generally features. I’m sometimes unsure if Vaughan & Staples show gruesome violence for the vicarious thrills, or as a technique to highlight that killing is not clean and anonymous like storm-troopers in Star Wars. Considering that his old sins are now catching up with The Will, I would hazard a guess its’ the latter. Eventually, his tormentor unearths a very valuable secret from his memories, though it’s no secret to readers.
In the final chapter, we rejoin Upsher, the gay tabloid journalist, Ghus the little prairie-dog warrior with a sense of justice, and the innocent young son of Prince Robot, Squire. They have an adventure in the forest, seeking the fearsome Dread Naught, and Ghus and the young robot have some interesting discussions about what situations justify fighting and killing to protect yourself. Vol 8 ends on an upbeat note, quite the opposite of the dark final panels of Vol 7.
Now that the series has reached 48 episodes and eight volumes, it has settled down to a more thoughtful pace, and while I think it does lack the intensity of the first four volumes and over-indulges in overt political themes that didn’t really carry the story forward much, I think Vaughan feels that he’s earned the loyalty of readers enough to be able to explore such themes with less propulsive action and more discourse. Again, I really appreciate that SAGA is not about escapism, its about our messy world, war, injustice, intolerance, innocence and cruelty, and most importantly the decisions we must make each day to get to the next day. That’s what keeps the series relevant and fresh – it’s real and funny and heartbreaking, often in rapid succession. Give it a try if you haven’t yet....more
One of the most complex and conflicted writers of SF, a moving and insightful portrait Definitely one of the best SF author biographies I've read, alonOne of the most complex and conflicted writers of SF, a moving and insightful portrait Definitely one of the best SF author biographies I've read, along with "Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick". There's no question that Alice B. Sheldon had a unique upbringing, a searingly bright but restless and troubled artistic passion and intellect, and an incredibly varied and fascinating life. It holds the weight of tragedy, but much artistic integrity and struggle as well. If you have read her stories and then read this, you will both gain great insight and immediately want to revisit them for a more enriching second reading. ...more
A Big Let-down to End the Series I have to admit there has been a 3 year gap between me reading the first 6 volumes and this final one. In fact, I esseA Big Let-down to End the Series I have to admit there has been a 3 year gap between me reading the first 6 volumes and this final one. In fact, I essentially forgot about the series as I had moved onto so many other books and audiobooks, and only realized there was a new (and final) volume by accident. I was (and remain) a massive fan of Brian K Vaughan's SAGA series, absolutely brilliant, which is why I gave this series a try. I certainly enjoyed the early volumes, though the story was very disorienting, thanks to the characters and the artwork in particular. But the more complicated the time-travel permutations became, the more I wondered 1) how this storyline can wrap up properly without a deus ex-machina, or 2) would this end with the dreaded "it was all a dream" reveal that has ruined many a book and drama series and pissed off so many fans (I'm looking straight at you LOST).
Now to be fair I personally think time travel and altering the past/present/future is so patently absurd and impossible that I have to just suspend my disbelief to begin with. Having said that, there are many time-travel stories I've enjoyed, such as Time and Again by Jack Finney, Replay by Ken Grimwood, Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, and The Door to Summer by Robert Heinlein, but those are all books where time-travel is on a very limited scale or even one-way basis. Once an author decides that characters (and storylines) can travel between multiple time-lines and dimensions, altering this, that, and the other in an endless succession of causal loops and paradoxes, the basic absurdity of the concept gets exposed, and the more they try to explain it rationally, the more ridiculous it seems.
That's exactly what this volume felt like. A very earnest effort to have it all make sense, and then the worst cop-out of all at the end. Both left me deeply disappointed....more
A Coming-of-Age Tale Amid Southern Gothic Decay, More Character Study than Murder Mystery If you are looking for a fast-paced murder mystery with a satA Coming-of-Age Tale Amid Southern Gothic Decay, More Character Study than Murder Mystery If you are looking for a fast-paced murder mystery with a satisfying resolution, this is not your book. Donna Tartt is focused on childhood traumas, death, coming of age, the slow social decay of the American South, lingering race inequality, crime, drug abuse, emotional dysfunction, and overall downbeat topics, though the two young lead protagonists are plucky and bold and inspired by adventure stories like Treasure Island, but they are quite innocent of the darkness lurking in the everyday lives of the people in their small town in Mississippi. It makes for another slow-burning story like her first novel The Secret History, but with a completely different setting, characters, and themes. I'd have to say I preferred the other story mainly as the topic of spoiled rich kids getting far too obsessed with Greek literature and philosophy was interesting, and there was a lot more overt tension in that story, whereas this one is more meditative and atmospheric. Still, she is a great writer who puts a lot into each book, so certainly was worth a listen, but won't be among my favourites....more
Wonderful story of immigrants in 1899 New York, who happen to be supernatural beings As usual I'm late to this party, and there are already so many welWonderful story of immigrants in 1899 New York, who happen to be supernatural beings As usual I'm late to this party, and there are already so many well-written and insightful reviews already by GR friends, so I'll just add my own thoughts. The storyline doesn't sound particularly plausible at first, but Helen Wecker's skill of storytelling brings to life with convincing historical details the social milieu of turn-of-the century NY teeming with hard-luck immigrants struggling for a better life in America, and an unexpected and understated romance between two extremely different supernatural beings from two ancient cultures, Judaism and the Bedouin tribes of Syria.
The story caught me by surprise because of the depth of characterization and details of everyday life for immigrants in the chaotic but vibrant environment. After having been completely annoyed by the tedium and aimless story of John Crowley's Little, Big, the tight and unpretentious story of these two unfolded with great pathos and interest. I found myself eager to know what happened next, even the most mundane things like the two finding jobs and learning to integrate in their respective ethnic enclaves without letting on their supernatural abilities.
The story does have a larger context that deals with the reasons why this golem was created in Prussia and by whom, and how a djinn from the Syrian deserts came to be enslaved in a vessel for a thousand years by a wizard obsessed with pursuing eternal life, and that kicks in during the final third of the book. It's well-paced and despite its depth of detail never felt dull to me, and the writing is beautiful. In fact, I'm a bit in awe that this is really the author's first book. Perhaps she has already had dozens of previous lives as a writer and is just hiding her supernatural abilities! Great book, one of my favourite reads of 2021....more
Nemesis Games: The crew of the Rocinante get their own stories this time I just wrote a fantastic, insightful, and extremely clever review of this...anNemesis Games: The crew of the Rocinante get their own stories this time I just wrote a fantastic, insightful, and extremely clever review of this...and then deleted it by mistake when trying to upload it. So I'm still trying to recover from the psychological shock of this tiny tragedy. I'll just have to write a very short version instead, sorry about that.
This was a great return to form for the series, which keeps things fresh by exploring the backstories of the crew of the Rocinante: James investigates a number of ships that have gone missing after going through the protomolecule gate, Alex goes to Mars to try to patch things up with his ex, Amos returns to the mean streets of Baltimore after hearing of the death of a friend, and Naomi Nagata is forced to face the demons of her past, triggered by a horrific terrorist act against Earth and Mars that may have been done by Belters as they see their economic significance dwindle amid the mad rush to colonize the thousand new start systems now available via the gate. Since the Belters are adapted to zero gravity life and have previously made a living mining various minerals and selling this to the Earth and Mars, they are suddenly facing the prospect of becoming obsolete in this new world order, so some are ready to commit acts of terror to try to change this. Naomi is embroiled in the middle of things, and we learn about the dark secrets she has kept secret for so long.
All in all its a very enjoyable exploration of their individual stories, and we all get some time with Bobbie Draper and the foul-mouthed stateswoman Avasarala, whose insults are at such a high level of creativity that you imagine the authors must spend hours coming up with them and need to give her more story time to deliver them....more
Cibola Burn: Fizzles out, my least favorite entry to date At the end of Abaddon's Gate, we know that the alien ring has opened up the universe and a thCibola Burn: Fizzles out, my least favorite entry to date At the end of Abaddon's Gate, we know that the alien ring has opened up the universe and a thousand new suns for humanity to explore and colonize, so you might expect the series to open up in scale after the tight quarters and political maelstrom of the solar system and the conflict between Earthers, Martians, and Belters. Well, you'd be wrong. Instead, two-author duo James S.A. Corey decide to focus the entire fourth book on a single planet and the fight over a virgin planet between refugee squatters and an evil Earth corporation to control a rich lithium supply.
Little do they know the planet contains remains of an ancient and long-gone alien civilization, along with plenty of the usual dangers of settling and surviving on a new world, but the hardest thing they face is the venal rivalries and petty grudges of the two groups of settlers. It's certainly realistic for the author's to show that you can take humanity out of the solar system, but they still bring all their cultural baggage and biases and general inability to get along. So Avasarala decides to send Holden there as a neutral mediator to defuse a volatile situation. Predictably, things get very messy and there are plenty of gun battles, space battles, damaged ships and tense standoffs, along with the trademark wise-cracks of the crusty crew of the Rosinante: Holden, Naomi, Amos, and Alex.
This time we meet some new faces among the security forces and settlers, with fairly clear good guys and bad guys. However, I found the vast portion of the book a fairly dull slog, as I just didn't care who prevailed, and the little hints of alien civilization didn't add up to much of anything, even the continued mystery of the Miller construct. The whole book felt like treading water after the authors signed a control for 5 more books, so they are pacing themselves for the long haul, which is pretty disappointing considering all the large-canvas potential of a mad rush to colonize a thousand star systems. It was like looking at just a few threats in a huge tapestry without enough sneak peaks to keep the reader engaged.
I already have the fifth book in the series, Nemesis Games, on audiobook so I'll give it a listen so it isn't wasted, but I fairly doubtful I'll go the distance with so many other series clamoring for attention....more
Abandon's Gate: My least favorite installment due to annoying new characters The Expanse has been a pleasure to discover, thanks to its well-crafted blAbandon's Gate: My least favorite installment due to annoying new characters The Expanse has been a pleasure to discover, thanks to its well-crafted blend of gritty, sarcastic, idealistic, and ruthless characters, lots of meticulous world-building and technical details to describe a smaller-scale solar-system stage rather than the usual galaxy-wide canvas of space opera, and very convoluted military and political scheming plots. It's a lot of work for the two-headed team that writes under the pseudonym James S.A. Corey. I've also been watching the Sy-Fy TV series (now available on Amazon Prime) through the first three seasons, and this is the last book that has a TV equivalent to compare to.
So despite having the same great core cast of crew members on the Rocinante, namely James Holden, Naomi Nagata, Amos Burton, and Alex Kamal, the biggest problems I had with this installment were:
1) Really annoying new characters There are two major new characters introduced this time around. A) The first is Clarissa Mao, younger sister of Julie Mao and daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao. Since Holden dismantled the massive corporation of her father since it was bent on weaponizing the proto-molecule for profit, she is hell-bent for revenge at all costs, and since she still has a lot of money available as a war-chest, she then concocts the most elaborate revenge scheme to humiliate, discredit, and kill James Holden. B) Anna Volovodov is a Methodist pastor from Europa who joins a UN delegation of religious figures seeking to examine and understand the mysterious ring/gate built by the proto-molecule in the previous book.
2) Difficult to believe motivations I found the motivations of the above two female characters very difficult to believe in, particularly Clarissa Mao. While we often see stories of totally obsessed characters bent on revenge at all costs, it's just hard to buy the lengths she goes to carefully trap Holden into her revenge fantasy. There are just too many implausible elements, and frankly I find it hard to believe that someone born into wealth and privilege can become a ruthless killer and determined assassin so quick (then again, Osama Bin Laden fits that bill). The depths of her hatred seem far to deep for someone who really hasn't suffered as much as many of the other characters.
Pastor Anna is, like most religious characters in SF novels and (sometimes) in real life, very sanctimonious, unbothered by contradictions, and irritatingly self-assured in her morality while at the same time brushing away moral conundrums with the typical vapid idea that mere humans cannot understand the will of God, which can cover all manner of sins and misfortune. So pretty much every scene with her grated on my serves, though I am certainly biased in this respect. I also really do wonder how believers in the current set of archaic, outdated, and Earth-centric religions would actually react to a bona-fide alien presence. Could they really do the mental-gymnastics required to accept an alien intelligence not mentioned at all in the holy scriptures? Or would it expose their beliefs as wrong? Hard to say, but I've found the religious mentality can incorporate all kinds of nonsense since it's not based on reason, but rather on faith.
So I have two more books in the series on Audiobook, Cybola Burn and Babylon's Ashes, which do not have TV series available yet to compare with, so I'll have to create my own mental pictures this time. The series is still well worth following, I just didn't gel with the new characters this time around....more
Paper Girls (Vol 5): Story gaining momentum and richness This is the fifth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and the larger story is really staPaper Girls (Vol 5): Story gaining momentum and richness This is the fifth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and the larger story is really starting to take shape. The early volumes were quite elliptical and disorienting, so it’s great to be able to understand the various storylines and the larger world-building that is revealed, and get to know and like the four main protagonists even more as they are thrown into a series of tense adventures across time.
Finally we get to delve into the far-future world inhabited by the old-timers, with the sleek and beautifully-colored futuristic cityscapes that were just hinted at in previous volumes. The girls find themselves in a far future city that is surprisingly close to home, on a mission to seek out answers and help as they are being pursued by multiple factions, since for some reason the outcome of this time-traveling battle apparently rests on their fates.
The story addresses the familiar time-travel contradictions of how the past and future can be altered when it should already have happened, taking a fresh tack by denying the common quantum explanation for multiple time-lines. It’s an interesting approach, and central to the entire story structure, so it’s good to see that Vaughan is thinking through his story carefully.
We learn much more about the back-stories of Wari and Grandfather, with some surprising reveals, and once again Vaughan refuses to use the simplistic dichotomy of “good” and “bad” for his characters. They each have their own motives to pursue the girls for different ends, and both seem to believe in the justness of their actions. This level of moral complexity is something that distinguishes the entire series. While the reasons for why the old-timers are after the girls is unveiled, its still unclear whether they or their rebellious younger rivals are right or wrong.
The narrative weaves between different groups, times, and adds color to some of the events of the past volumes. Things are certainly easier to follow now, and the plot is really gaining urgency. What is more, the interactions between the girls and their older selves are both funny and moving at times. The artwork by Cliff Chiang remains precise, clean and skillful, and the coloring by Matt Wilson and letter by Jared K. Fletcher are also distinctive and add to the visual feast. It’s a pleasure to read and the full-page panels are always used as dramatic reveals.
Much like Vol 4, I found this volume to be a lot of fun to read and am now eagerly awaiting the next installment....more
Paper Girls Vol 4: Finally revealing the bigger picture This is the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and we are finally given enough Paper Girls Vol 4: Finally revealing the bigger picture This is the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and we are finally given enough glimpses of the larger plot to make sense of what’s happened until this point.
After being thrown into the distant past and battling cavemen and befriending fierce natives, the girls once again in their future (and our past), namely during Y2K before the millenium. There are all kinds of strange things happening, not least of which are giant robots duking it out like Transformers in the streets of quiet Stony Stream, but for some reason only one of the girls can see them.
We also get far more details on who the old-timers and young ones are, and why they are fighting a war across multiple timelines. What made little sense and was totally disorienting in the earlier volumes now becomes more clear in hindsight, and Vaughn is having fun peeling back the curtains a bit but also implying that the larger tapestry is vast and complex indeed, enough to justify a long and fascinating run. So that early teasing is finally starting to pay off.
We also get more encounters betweens the girls and their older selves, which is always a fun opportunity for introspective and surprise/dismay at how things turned out. There are also some interesting developments in the relationships among the girls, but the less said the better.
Finally, I found the action sequences involving the old-timers and young ones to be quite intense and dramatic. Vaughan has been careful to not reveal which sides are “good” or “bad”, as they both have their own agendas and rationales for fighting this multi-timeline conflict. The girls of course are caught in the middle and sometimes have to follow their gut instincts in who to believe and side with, which changes as the story progresses.
The artwork by Ted Chiang remains precise, clean and skillful, and the coloring by Matt Wilson and letter by Jared K. Fletcher are also distinctive and add to enjoyment of this story. It’s a pleasure to read and the full-page panels are always used as dramatic reveals.
I found this volume to be the most satisfying of the series so far, and feel like things are starting to pay off finally....more
Pride and Prejudice for Miles Vorkosigan Fans This one is for the fans. If you've followed the many adventures of Miles Vorkosigan, Ivan Vorpatril, EmpPride and Prejudice for Miles Vorkosigan Fans This one is for the fans. If you've followed the many adventures of Miles Vorkosigan, Ivan Vorpatril, Emperor Gregor, and Ekaterin in Komarr, you'll understand all the intricate character details and background that give this story the proper context to enjoy it. If you just read it on its own, be prepared for a lengthly series of comic romantic mishaps among Miles and his friends. It really doesn't feature any space adventure or substantial political intrigue, and a major subplot involves butter bugs. But it's basically a fun reward to all the fans of Miles who wondered, "Is this manic guy every going to find the right woman for him?"
Well, being Lois McMaster Bujold, she revels in intricate and humorously tangled love stories, but what I find quite annoying about most romances, whether in book or movie form, is that they require the characters to first be attracted to each other, fall in love, and then for no logical reason have a massive misunderstanding and blow-out that occupies the entire middle act and provides dramatic tension before eventually having the characters make up and live happily ever after as the credits roll.
Of course A Civil Campaign is a better story than that, and some of the situations like Miles' dinner party are truly hilarious, but overall I found the story a bit too padded and contrived for my tastes. It is like a buffet of tasty treats that you can overindulge in and get sick of well before its time to head home. So while devoted fans will likely gobble it up, I'd recommend a more modest appetizer first like Shards of Honor or The Warrior's Apprentice first....more
Paper Girls, Vol. 3: Story Shifts to A New Direction Entirely Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
This is the third volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PapPaper Girls, Vol. 3: Story Shifts to A New Direction Entirely Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
This is the third volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls, and if you thought you were starting to get a handle on where the story was headed, think again…
[SPOILER TERRITORY AHEAD – DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE READ VOLUMES ONE AND TWO]
The four paper girls are reunited in a completely new place somewhere far off in the future or past, and run into a savage young women who looks vaguely native American except for the technojunk strung around her neck. She is a fierce warrior, but despite her youth is carrying a baby on her back, and thanks to an interpreting device the girls brought with them, they can communicate. In all three volumes, characters from different time periods speak unintelligible languages, enhanced by the creative lettering, and the future oldsters use an evolved form of English as you would imagine would happen over the centuries.
Then a new character from the future named Doctor Quanta Braunstein shows up in a fancy suit and cool hairstyle, while Tiffany and Erin start to bond with the primitive girl Wari and her baby Jahpo. It turns out that three men are after Wari for her baby, and somehow they all claim fatherhood. They look a bit like Uruk-Hai covered with mud, and they too have some technological flotsam to go with their stone axes. Anachronisms abound is this volume, as the theme of crossed time streams comes to the fore. These three cave-men run into and capture Doctor Braunstein, while the girls try to come up with a plan to get back to 1988.
Meanwhile, KJ and Mac spend some time having typical tween chats…in the distant prehistoric past. But when they encounter a weird futuristic construct and KJ touches it…she sees some disturbing things. Once again, Vaughn is very good at using varying panel sizes to build anticipation and delivery of the big reveals, just like in Saga.
The four girls finally reunite in the forest, and inevitably they encounter the three cave-men and the future woman being held prisoner. Lots more happens, and we learn a little about what is happening in the grander scheme of things, but it’s just tidbits of story breadcrumbs that Vaughan is doling out to keep us going. The story is interesting enough that I don’t mind, but this could potentially be a very long and involved series indeed.
In the final chapter of volume three, Doctor Braunstein and the girls discuss the merits of meddling with the ancient past, but then the three cave-men show up and force the issue. The episode ends with some climactic events likely to have major repercussions, and the girls are thrown into yet another time period with another unexpected and dramatic final image…TO BE CONTINUED....more
Paper Girls: If you thought things were weird before… Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper GirlPaper Girls: If you thought things were weird before… Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls, and takes up the story right where it left off in volume one. The four paper girls from 1988 have found themselves in 2016, but still in the sleepy suburb of Stony Stream. And they are about encounter more weirdness and sinister characters that the first volume…
Paper Girls has been likened to a female version of Stranger Things, and while they both center on a group of suburban kids growing up in the 1980s who start to encounter strange and occult happenings in their town and have to take things into their own hands, with copious 80s pop references, Paper Girls is a lot edgier and intense, which is just what you’d expect from the creator of Saga.
Once again, Vaughan spins off new plot elements and characters without letting either the reader or the characters know who are the good guys or the bad guys, so it makes you wonder if he really can pull it all together over time eventually, or if he’s just winging it along the way. Considering that there are folds to other dimensions and time travel in the story, pretty much anything can happen and he can back-engineer things to make some kind of sense. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, Volume Two focuses on Erin meeting her future self in 2016, which presents lots of fun moments for the girls to marvel over the advances in technology since 1988, and for 12-year old Erin to meet her older self and vice-versa. It isn’t all happy times – young Erin probably didn’t see herself as a small-town journalist, and older Erin is torn between feeling responsible for these young girls in her charge, and seeing their youth and enthusiasm that she has since lost. The whole situation is pretty stressful for the older Erin.
Still, as KJ has disappeared along with the mysterious cloaked time-travelers from the previous volume, the girls convince older Eric to help them track her down, using the mysterious device with the apple symbol. It directs them to the “First Folding” at the old Stony Gate Mall.
Meanwhile, a mysterious new character in a futuristic red suit shows up in a parking lot, and when they remove their helmet things get even more disorienting. It’s quite a WTF moment, and I happen to like those quite a lot, which is why I enjoy Vaughan’s stories so much. With hardly a pause to catch our breath, a giant creature shows up in the parking lot, which looks very alien but is actually of terrestrial origin and if you’ve watched the new version of Cosmos hosted by Neil De Grasse Tyson, you will recognize it. The new character is also heading for Stony Gate Mall, so we know they will all cross paths soon. Once again, we’re kept in the dark as to whether they are good or bad, though they claim to be on the girls’ side.
The new character saves Mac and Tiffany from a nasty creature, while the old and new Erin have some bittersweet conversations about life, before they discover a mysterious field hockey stick dangling from a patch of nothing with a cryptic note. Then the interloper (see, I’m trying extra hard not to spoil too much) starts to reveal a bunch of info to the girls and older Eric, but if anything its just enough to create more questions in their minds (and the readers’). When the interloper offers to take them all to a future sanctuary and gives them a glimpse, its very tempting indeed. Our protagonists make a gutsy decision on who to trust…
Then things get even more bizarre, as the Oldsters start to get involved with a giant airship, some pteradactyls, and even more crazy stuff that clearly belongs in the future. Older Eric calls in unexpected help, and more exciting mayhem ensues. There are some great larger panels here, and the artwork by Cliff Chiang and coloring by Matt Wilson are truly excellent.
Despite all the new plot details and fleshing out of the world Vaughan has created, you’ll likely feel like your head is spinning from all the possibilities, but if you are comfortable being kept in suspense, then this series remains intriguing and unexpected....more
Paper Girls: Four 80s Teens get Entangled in Serious Weirdness Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
If you are a fan of Brian K. Vaughan’s amazing SaPaper Girls: Four 80s Teens get Entangled in Serious Weirdness Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
If you are a fan of Brian K. Vaughan’s amazing Saga comic series, you are likely to want to check out some of his other series as well. In addition to writing many stories for Marvel and DC comics’s well-known franchises, he has also written a number of original series, including Y: The Last Man, Ex Machine, Runaways, and Paper Girls. For Paper Girls, I rally liked the cover artwork by Cliff Chiang, coloring by Matt Wilson, and lettering by Jared Fletcher.
Paper Girls has been likened to a female version of Stranger Things, and while there is some superficial resemblance as they both center around a group of suburban kids growing up in the 1980s who start to encounter strange and occult happenings in their town and have to take things into their own hands, with copious 80s pop references, Paper Girls goes into far weirder and most outlandish territory, and while things start out out on a small scale about four 12-year old girls doing a paper route in Cleveland, Ohio, things don’t stay that way for long.
During her early-morning paper delivery route, Erin Tieng is accosted by some bullying teen boys who are chased off by three other female paper girls, Mac, Tiffany, and KJ. Mac is a tough-talking, cigarette-smoking tomboy who doesn’t back down from anyone while Tiffany and KJ are a bit more typical kids. Erin is the new girl, but gets thrust into their group when they get jumped by some mysterious cloaked individuals and have their walkie-talkie stolen.
The early morning pre-dawn blue colors and artwork are done really well, as are the 80s period details of clothing, hairstyles, manner of speech, and pop-culture references. However, these girls are a bit more street-saavy than their male Stranger Things counterparts, and when they discover a mysterious device in an under-construction house, you know things are going to get weird. If you’d rather discover the rest for yourself, stop reading and get yourself a copy right now!
Anyway, the girls get transported to a different version of their sleepy suburb of Stony Streams, and run into the mysterious cloaked figures, who speak a mystery language depicted with alien-looking lettering. They acquire a tiny device with an apple symbol on it, try to figure out what is going on, and very soon we’ve got winged pteradactyls with futuristic armored riders with power lances, weird light formations in the sky, and then things get very chaotic.
The girls end up with the mysterious hooded characters, people get injured, and they end up on the run from some very bizarre alien constructs, and get conflicting details and snippets of information just enough to confuse and tantalize us. Again, it’s not clear what’s going on and where the story is going, but compared to all the stories out there that are painfully predictable, I found this refreshing.
Vaughan throws in a steady flood of new plot elements and characters without letting either the reader or the characters know who are the good guys or the bad guys, so if you like your stories crystal-clear from the outset you may find it frustrating. I myself enjoy the disorientation of a new stories where nothing is yet clear, so I don’t mind. If you trust the creators of the story, you’ll be willing to go along for the ride. Much like in Saga, he likes to have smaller panels lead to larger reveal panels that build anticipation in the story. It’s a good visual technique and gets you trained to look ahead to the next one, very Pavlovian!
Because the events of Volume 1 are still so preliminary and confusing, I read the first three volumes before even attempting to write a review, but I can honestly say that while I’ve got a more detailed view of the larger plot and more details, I remain in the dark about where this story is going, but it remains very entertaining....more
This series just gets better with each installment. I gave City of Stairs and City of Blades 4 stars each, but I think having listened to all three, tThis series just gets better with each installment. I gave City of Stairs and City of Blades 4 stars each, but I think having listened to all three, the trilogy as a whole deserves 5 stars for incredible world-building, complex mystery plots, and above all its damaged and conflicted characters.
City of Miracles is centered on fan-favorite Sigrid, the Nordic berserker assassin and all-around badass, but much of the plot revolves around the secret machinations of Prime Minister Shara Komayd, who starts off the book in explosive fashion. It's a very cinematic opening sequence worthy of Luc Besson or Michael Mann, and its alternative Eastern European urban flavor is perfectly evoked. Though Bennett adopts the same structure of a murder mystery that unfolds into a much more complex tapestry of dead gods who never fully stay dead, diabolical plots to harness divine powers for various political ends, and in this book the numerous offspring of the gods, carefully hidden away in society as mortals, often with the children themselves unaware of their heritage.
What Bennett does best though is refuse to let his characters stay the same. They undergo traumatic adventures that leave physical and psychological scars that DO NOT GO AWAY. It's a direct refutation of the usual pattern of indomitable heroes who decimate their enemies, feel a twinge of remorse, and then move on to the next adventure with a jaunty swagger. Not so in THE DIVINE CITIES - Shara, Turiyan, and especially Sigrud carry the baggage of all the killings and schemes they have been involved in throughout their lives, and all the loved ones they were unable to protect from harm. Not only that, but their harrowing life journeys age them, so that we see characters that not so much grow in stature as get worn down, like weathered stones being battered by the sea, shaped by events into fantastically contorted patterns, yet still recognizable.
The themes of colonialism and its legacy remain front and center, and this time the theme of children and how they are often exploited for the purposes of adults is a key plot element, particularly as it pertains to the children of the gods and one particularly damaged godling that uses his own abusive past and takes a terrible revenge on his brethren and the world, seeking to envelop everything in everlasting darkness. He is both pathetic and terrifying, a man-child who is lashing out at those he feels wronged him.
The plot is as intricate as the previous books, and suffice to say that Bennett is adept at mixing intense action, complex intrigues, emotionally-charged relationships, and speculations on divinity, war, and oppression in a completely unique and organic way that I haven't seen done before in the genre. That's saying quite a lot considering how much derivative product is churned out year after year. This series deserves plenty of accolades and book sales, as the author has created something quite special and worthy of repeat readings. Though each book can stand on its own, the three form an integrated whole that is one of the most impressive works of the last decade, on par with N.K. Jemisin's BROKEN EARTH trilogy....more
I really liked the Miles Vorkosigan Saga when I first read it in high school over 20 years ago, having read through The Vor Game before heading to colI really liked the Miles Vorkosigan Saga when I first read it in high school over 20 years ago, having read through The Vor Game before heading to college and finding myself too busy to read much SF for the next two decades.
So as I got back into genre reading a few years back, I was surprised at just how incredibly popular and extensive the series had become. Back when I first picked up Shards of Honor as a Baen paperback with mediocre cover art (this is true for the entire series, I'm afraid, even the omnibus editions, which seems to be Baen's preference for all their covers and not to my taste at all), I had no idea it would lead to such an impressive franchise over the next three decades and winning a stack of Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards and nominations along the way, including some excellent novellas like Mountains of Mourning.
As I think most SF readers know the storyline quite well, I'll just say Shards of Honor is the story of how Miles' parents, Betan captain Cordelia Naismith and Barrayan commander Aral Vorkosigan, fall in love despite being on opposing sides of an interplanetary conflict. Despite it being Bujold's first published book, its written in polished but unadorned prose, well suited to the mature personalities of the two main leads. It manages to be both a character-centric military SF adventure that focuses on military and personal honor, loyalties, betrayals, and complex political schemes, while also featuring an unlikely romance between from two individuals who are deeply committed to maintaining loyalty to their sides, even when their own sides are politically fractured and treacherous.
Military-SF and romance are strange bedfellows, but Bujold writes so naturally that it works, and lays the background for how Miles' parents met and fell in love amidst military intrigue, space battles, and even a close call with a sadistic Barrayaran commander. While this book is not as polished as later books in the Miles Vorkosigan series, it sets the stage well and delivers a very character-centric military SF adventure, itself an unusual accomplishment. There is also an unexpectedly poignant coda called Aftermaths - I didn't quite realize where it was going until the very end and it hit me hard, exploring the tragedy of space battles and war that is rarely considered in military SF. (less)...more
This is an excellent follow-up to the genre-mixing City of Stairs, this time focusing on the legacy of war and violence in both the victims and perpetThis is an excellent follow-up to the genre-mixing City of Stairs, this time focusing on the legacy of war and violence in both the victims and perpetrators, from the perspective of generals, rank-and-file soldiers, spies, commoners, rebels, and then centering its mystery plot on Voortyashtan, the city formerly ruled by the goddess of war, Voorya, whose Sentinels are armored killing machines that guard a divine afterlife open only to soldiers who have slain enough enemies in battle to be worthy.
Once again the setting is a city in the conquered land of the Continent, its Saypuri occupiers, and this time it is foul-mouthed and embittered General Turyin Mulagesh, who is dragged out of retirement to investigate the disappearance of a Saypuri operative, some mysterious murders, a strange mining operation, and rumors that some of the divine objects of the dead goddess Voorya still seem to retain some power.
This time Bennett delves even more into the difficult territory of why humanity seems so intent on repeating the legacy of past violence and subjugation, with or without divine assistance, and so the story is far more emotionally raw than the first book, and the final third of the book is filled with pain, tragedy, and death. But it done is such a gripping way that it is hard to not be carried on by the relentless momentum of the various parties involved. It is hard to identify the "good" and "bad" characters, as all of them have their light and dark elements.
And unlike "grim dark fantasy", they are not mostly just ruthless and cynically-motivated, this is rather the book that questions that mindset and puts a spotlight on how even when we try to do right, our military actions inevitably result in victims, including those just carrying out orders. Its a tough perspective to embrace, even in a fantasy context, but it flows naturally from the world that Bennett has created in such vivid and careful detail. He has put a great deal of thought into making this world believable, and is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects and put his characters, whom we come to care for, through some very harrowing experiences that will leave them scarred forever afterward.
So while it was quite a challenging book, it raises intriguing possibilities for the final book in the trilogy, City of Miracles, as it is clear that Bennett is not afraid to challenge both genre conventions and limitations in both his characters' emotional depths and the socio-political worlds they inhabit. I might a bit a of a break first, but I am looking forward to the final installment in his Divine Cities series....more
The Stone Sky: An Earth-shattering finale Originally posted as Fantasy Literature The climactic conclusion to N.K. Jemisin’s THE BROKEN EARTH trilogy, TThe Stone Sky: An Earth-shattering finale Originally posted as Fantasy Literature The climactic conclusion to N.K. Jemisin’s THE BROKEN EARTH trilogy, The Stone Sky (2017), has expectations erupting into the stratosphere since both the previous books, The Fifth Season (2015) and The Obelisk Gate (2016), captured the Hugo Awards for Best SF Novels of 2015 and 2016, and these wins were well deserved. Having just finished it, I think THE BROKEN EARTH trilogy is one of the most intelligent, emotionally-wrenching, and relevant SF epics in the last few decades. So any accolades it gets from fans, reviewers, and fellow authors would be fully justified. If you have not read those books yet, read no further as this review contains some spoilers — instead, go out and read them as soon as you can. I say read, but I listened to the expert audio narration of Robin Miles, whose steady and knowing delivery are so perfectly suited to the characters and second-hand POV structure. She complements the story so well that I consider her a co-creator.
The Stone Sky is the kind of book the illuminates and enriches the story that has come before, and makes you want to go back and read them immediately to immerse yourself in the tale once again and delve further into the subterranean depths and undercurrents that explore the bonds of parent and child, exploitation and abuse of power, and to what lengths people will go to protect their child or fight against such exploitation.
The Stone Sky resumes the story of Essun, seeking her daughter Nassun, who in turn has been kidnapped by Essun’s murderous and intolerant husband. Like her mother, Nassun is a rogga, an untrained orogene who can manipulate the geological and kinetic forces of the earth with devastating effect. For that reason, rogga are viewed as deadly threats by stills (those without such powers) and are frequently killed as soon as they display these abilities or are sent to the Fulcrum where they can be trained and controlled by a strict and cruel regimen of servitude. The alternative is death.
The story is also about Hoa, the mysterious Stone Eater that has formed a close bond with Essun, even as she battles against her body turning slowly to stone due to the events of the previous book’s finale. In the second book we learned some of the back story of the Stone Eaters and their competing factions, but in The Stone Sky Jemisin reveals in very dense and mind-boggling backstory chapters how the world of the Stillness came into being, how the Yumenes Rifting occurred, and what role the secretive and powerful Guardians and Stone Eaters played in this incredibly complex, harsh and engrossing world.
It will literally make your head spin — I had to listen to Chapter 19 several times to get my head around it, but it was worth the effort. As many other readers have noted, the grim post-apocalyptic fantasy feel of the The Fifth Season starts to shift into dense SF mode in The Obelisk Gate to explain the inner workings of orogeny, the silvery currents of magic that course through the world, and the ominous obelisks that float in the sky. In The Stone Sky, all the references to evil Father Earth and his lost child, the Moon, become clear in unexpected fashion and shed much light on why the world of the Stillness is so beset with earthquakes, choking ashes, flame, and other calamities.
Lastly, the story is about Shaffa, the ruthless yet protective Guardian of Nassun, whose agendas for his young ward set the stage for a climactic, earth-shattering confrontation in the final chapters between Nassun and her mother Essun, a powerful and emotional conflict between parent and child with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Just as in the previous books, Jemisin is ingenious in how she overlays the emotional struggles of the characters onto the violent geological landscape of the Stillness, which is anything but. This story is a volcanic journey into the depths of human struggle and oppression, but finally soars in its final act. The Stone Sky, and the entire BROKEN EARTH series, is a fantastic experience and well worth a revisit....more
A relentless tale of deceptions, betrayals, rebellion, gender identity, politics, with a royal accountant protagonist Kevin Wei’s review at Fantasy Li A relentless tale of deceptions, betrayals, rebellion, gender identity, politics, with a royal accountant protagonist Kevin Wei’s review at Fantasy Literature covers the themes and merits of this excellent book so eloquently that there isn’t much more I can add, other than to say this book is fiercely intelligent, frequently brutal in the moral dilemmas that its central character Baru Cormorant faces, and the world it depicts is incredibly detailed and complicated, just like our own world. It reminds me in many ways of N.K. Jemisin’s BROKEN EARTH series in its unflinching exploration of serious themes in a fast-paced, original, dark, and gripping narrative, and Yoon Ha Lee’s Ninefox Gambit in its treatment of gender identity and societal restrictions on sexuality.
In particular, this book delves deeply into what it means to deceive both others and one’s self in the name of seizing power for revenge. The layers of deceptions, facades, plots, betrayals, identity, control, rebellion, and suppression that infuse the characters and story are byzantine and yet fully controlled by author Seth Dickinson. It’s an oft-repeated cliche, but this does not read like a debut novel. To get a sense of how widely-read Dickinson is, read his FanLit interview with Kevin - fantastic insights that show just how deeply he has thought about these themes and issues, and Kevin’s questions are pure genius.
Overall, this book was both exhilarating and harrowing, and I particularly appreciated that the main character is a royal accountant who understands that both governments and rebellions need funding to survive, and the same goes for the military. It’s a subject that rarely gets detailed treatment in fantasy fiction, but it was very relevant to the story and gave it added realism. In fact, I was hard-pressed to find any magical elements in the story, much more like an alternate world with a fantasy feel to it.
Given the depth and complexity of the story, I think it is probably best read in print rather than audiobook to get the full effect, but narrator Christine Marshall does an excellent job nonetheless. It’s just that it’s harder to stop an audiobook to reflect on a certain passage the way you can with a print copy. If I had more time in my daily life, I would definitely read it in hardcopy. I’ve heard the author is working on a sequel, and it’s a no-brainer that it would go straight to the top of my TBR list....more
Four Ways to Forgiveness: Slavery, oppression, revolution, and redemption Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Ursula K. Le Guin is hardly afraid to Four Ways to Forgiveness: Slavery, oppression, revolution, and redemption Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Ursula K. Le Guin is hardly afraid to tackle difficult topics. In fact, she delves into them with a fearless but controlled approach that forces us to look at painful subjects we may prefer not to. This time she is going straight for the jugular, exploring the sensitive subjects of freedom, slavery, oppression, sexual politics, and revolution. In the wrong hands this could easily become a heavy-handed polemic that might be unreadable.
However, Le Guin is far too skilled a writer to wield a cudgel — instead, she uses her scalpel to peel away layer after layer of ingrained societal norms as she explores just how human societies are affected by these topics, and leaving no side free of sin but shows how even the slavers victimize themselves as they indoctrinate their own children into the system. There are no purely evil people in her stories, but much cruel and unthinking behavior.
As with her other Hainish stories, in Four Ways to Forgiveness she uses the Envoys of the advanced space-faring Ekumen as the neutral observers of the more primitive native societies, determined to not take sides but forced to by circumstances. In these stories Envoys get kidnapped, tortured, and otherwise dragged into messy situations. In the end, we see just how cruel, damaging, and irrational slavery is, symbolized by reversing the usual pattern of our world with darker-skinned people enslaving lighter-skinned people.
Four Ways to Forgiveness introduces a pair of worlds named Werel and Yeowe. Werel was first to be populated by the Hainish in antiquity, and many generations later when the Hainish come back in contact, they discover that the Werelians have a firmly entrenched system of slavery. In fact, the shock of encountering these space-faring “aliens” prompts the Werelians to colonize the planet of Yeowe using an-all male population of slaves (which they label “assets”).
Though later female slaves are sent to join them, they have already developed an extremely masculine hierarchical and homosexual society, and the women are placed at the bottom of it. What is both surprising and upsetting is that even after the light-skinned Yeowe slaves stage a successful revolution, the women still find that their status of subservience does not change as much as hoped.
There are a lot of unpleasant and brutal scenes in Four Ways to Forgiveness — Le Guin really forces the reader to face the ugliness of societies built around oppression and abuse those unable to defend themselves. In the case of slaves, both men and women are abused and treated inhumanly, whereas among both slaves and slavers, women are victimized by men. The cycle of oppression leaves its psychological scars deep in people’s minds for generations. Approaching the issue from numerous angles, we see how it affects every individual in the story.
Eventually, each story comes to some form of resolution or rapprochement, and oftentimes individuals of very different backgrounds come to understand and even love others. While this can be properly labeled “understanding” or “empathizing,” I was a bit hard-put to identify “forgiveness” in an overt form in some cases. That would imply a victim forgiving a victimizer, I would think, and that didn’t seem to always be the case. Perhaps other readers can interpret the book’s title better than I can.
Of note, there is another story set in the same world of Werel and Yeowe called “Old Music and the Slave Women,” which fits very much into the same framework of the other stories and belongs together with them. It can be found in The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin, along with three of the stories from Four Ways to Forgiveness, “Forgiveness Day,” “A Man of the People,” and “A Woman’s Liberation.” The first story, “Betrayals”, can be found in The Unreal and the Real: The Selected Short Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin.
I listened to the audiobook versions of both available from Recorded Books, with The Found and the Lost narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan and Jefferson Mays, and The Unreal and the Real narrated by Tandy Cronyn. All do an excellent job as Le Guin’s stories are perfectly suited for reading aloud. The narrators’ voices are strong, direct, and passionate, and the characters and dialogue take center stage, reflecting Le Guin’s love of story-telling and poetry....more
Loading...
