Books!
Re: Books!
Some time ago, I started reading The Umbrella Academy (after playing the Umbrella Academy world in Funko Fusion, based more upon the Netflix series). Some time ago, I finished the first volume, Apocalypse Suite.
Re: Books!
Just finished Bad Dreams in the Night, a compilation of horror stories written and illustrated by comic artist Adam Ellis.
Re: Books!
So I actually finished reading the first volume of the Hathaway's Flash novels. I had started reading it a couple years ago after getting a little obsessed with the film and buying all the novels because it didn't seem like the sequel movies were coming any time soon. I had read through about half of the first volume before reaching a chapter that corresponds with a scene in the film that is wildly visceral and tremendously powerful, but I actually have a slightly traumatic response to. So on some level I probably put the novel down and never really returned to it because of that, but since I heard the news last year about The Witch of Circe coming out this year, I really felt like I should at least finish the first volume of the novels in anticipation.
Well, The Witch of Circe starts in theaters in Japan on Friday, and I finally picked the the first novel back up a little over a week ago. Read through the back half in little bits before going to bed the past several nights, and the chapter I had been subconsciously avoiding actually didn't feel nearly as traumatizing in novel form. So that's one spot where the film is probably a better medium, but on the other hand there's this conversation between Gigi and Kenneth in the cafeteria of the Federation base in Dabao after Hathaway leaves the base that I barely remember from the film (I think the conversation actually happened in Kenneth's office there), but I found to be really interesting in the novel, where a lot of things about Gigi are kind of revealed, and Kenneth starts to come to some realizations about both Hathaway and Gigi. On the other other hand, the fight between the Penelope and Xi Gundams is maybe unsurprisingly more interesting in a visual medium. That's not to say it's bad in print form, but I found it a bit more challenging to visualize what was going on. (Honestly, though, part of that is probably down to some of my limitations with Japanese language.)
I also started the second volume by just reading through the first chapter, which acts like somewhat of a recap of the background plot from the first novel while taking a look at Gigi getting temporarily placed into a vacation cottage in Dabao. Everything is new for me with this novel now, so I have no context of the film to fall back on, at least for now. However, the films' producer mentioned a long time ago that the second and third film are going to be diverging from the novels fairly significantly, which is partly why I'd like to read through the second novel before seeing the film (which may not happen before it's out on Bluray anyway) so I can actually know where things might be dovetailing. It likely won't take me more than a couple weeks to finish the second and third novels, if I manage to maintain the habit of reading them in bits each night, since they're each only about 2/3 the length of the first novel.
Well, The Witch of Circe starts in theaters in Japan on Friday, and I finally picked the the first novel back up a little over a week ago. Read through the back half in little bits before going to bed the past several nights, and the chapter I had been subconsciously avoiding actually didn't feel nearly as traumatizing in novel form. So that's one spot where the film is probably a better medium, but on the other hand there's this conversation between Gigi and Kenneth in the cafeteria of the Federation base in Dabao after Hathaway leaves the base that I barely remember from the film (I think the conversation actually happened in Kenneth's office there), but I found to be really interesting in the novel, where a lot of things about Gigi are kind of revealed, and Kenneth starts to come to some realizations about both Hathaway and Gigi. On the other other hand, the fight between the Penelope and Xi Gundams is maybe unsurprisingly more interesting in a visual medium. That's not to say it's bad in print form, but I found it a bit more challenging to visualize what was going on. (Honestly, though, part of that is probably down to some of my limitations with Japanese language.)
I also started the second volume by just reading through the first chapter, which acts like somewhat of a recap of the background plot from the first novel while taking a look at Gigi getting temporarily placed into a vacation cottage in Dabao. Everything is new for me with this novel now, so I have no context of the film to fall back on, at least for now. However, the films' producer mentioned a long time ago that the second and third film are going to be diverging from the novels fairly significantly, which is partly why I'd like to read through the second novel before seeing the film (which may not happen before it's out on Bluray anyway) so I can actually know where things might be dovetailing. It likely won't take me more than a couple weeks to finish the second and third novels, if I manage to maintain the habit of reading them in bits each night, since they're each only about 2/3 the length of the first novel.
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Steam (and other) keys for trade/free: viewtopic.php?p=1189267#p1189267
B/S/T Thread: viewtopic.php?p=1188724#p1188724
Steam (and other) keys for trade/free: viewtopic.php?p=1189267#p1189267
B/S/T Thread: viewtopic.php?p=1188724#p1188724
Re: Books!
Late last year, I was feeling nostalgic for my old Star Wars novels after reading the new-ish Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. I decided that it was time to reread all the Bantam era novels and acquire the few that I was missing. After a trip to McKays bookstore in Nashville, I got the four books I was missing. It set me back a whopping $3.75.
Now I've got the whole set:
I'm doing a somewhat chronological reread this time starting with The Truce at Bakura. I just finished up the first four X-Wing novels for their 30th anniversary (it hurts me to say that because I bought them when they came out). I think I'll continue chronologically until I get to Darksaber, then backtrack to the pre-RotJ stuff. Then I'll finish the rest chronologically.
After that, I'm planning to finally read the New Jedi Order books. I bought the first five books back in the day and never read them. I was in college when they came out and just had too many distractions. If I enjoy the NJO books, I'll likely continue into the Legacy of the Force series.
I realize that this is a massive undertaking but I'll certainly take breaks and read other things here and there. My goal is to finish the Bantam books this year.
Now I've got the whole set:
I'm doing a somewhat chronological reread this time starting with The Truce at Bakura. I just finished up the first four X-Wing novels for their 30th anniversary (it hurts me to say that because I bought them when they came out). I think I'll continue chronologically until I get to Darksaber, then backtrack to the pre-RotJ stuff. Then I'll finish the rest chronologically.
After that, I'm planning to finally read the New Jedi Order books. I bought the first five books back in the day and never read them. I was in college when they came out and just had too many distractions. If I enjoy the NJO books, I'll likely continue into the Legacy of the Force series.
I realize that this is a massive undertaking but I'll certainly take breaks and read other things here and there. My goal is to finish the Bantam books this year.
Re: Books!
Completely forgot to mention how I read Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven, the third in a series of graphic novels that retell the origins of the Titans.