Lily
Book
The lily is a flower of contradictions. It represents both life and death, appearing at weddings and...
I Ching: The Book of Change
Book
In a radically new translation and interpretation of the I Ching, David Hinton strips this ancient...
Peach Blossom Spring
9.0
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Book
With every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so...
Historical fiction War WW2 Chinese-American Communism
Bluebird, Bluebird
8.0
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Book
Southern fables usually go the other way around: a white woman killed or harmed in some way, real or...
Thriller
Sir Thomas Browne: A Life
Book
Sir Thomas Browne: A Life is the first full-scale biography of the extraordinary prose artist,...
Art, Sex and Politics at the Early Georgian Court: An Eighteenth-Century Lady-in-Waiting's 'Collection of Pictures'
Book
A provocative letter from a prominent eighteenth-century British noblewoman, Henrietta Howard, to...
Robin Schwartz: Amelia and the Animals
Robin Schwartz, Lena Dunham and Amelia Paul Forman
Book
Amelia is fourteen years old. In many ways, she is your average American teenager: since she was...
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Fables: Volume 1: Legends in Exile in Books
Nov 30, 2020
So, prior to writing this review, I wanted to peruse the reviews on here, to see what others said, reducing the risk of writing something already said. What I found were a number of 1-Star reviews, something I found to be quite surprising!
Not every comic (or book, for that matter) will necessarily start with an amazing first arc. It may be good, yes, but it could also be polished in spots. However, despite little things that could be better, the overall content should be seen as good enough to warrant reading the second story arc.
That is how I felt at the conclusion of this first volume, a mystery of sorts that also served to introduce us to a number of characters who go on to appear as series regulars. Sure, the dialogue was not perfect (really? Comparing it to Gaiman's SANDMAN? Like trying to compare RICK & MORTY to THE LAST UNICORN!), but I can safely say that the series matures, like a well-aged wine, and later issues are much, much better.
Long and short: it's an urban fantasy with the fables we grew up with. Go in without an judgments or comparisons, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Jus' sayin'..
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Harley Quinn - Season 1 in TV
Jul 31, 2020 (Updated Jul 31, 2020)
I really wasn't too bothered when it was originally announced but I'm really glad I got round to it eventually.
To start with, it's fucking hilarious. The dialogue and humour arrives in waves, never lets up, and is pretty much constantly funny and pretty clever. Cast your mind back to when Family Guy was actually good (it's been a while my friends) and you're sort of in the right ball park. Every character offers something in this respect.
The main characters - Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, King Shark, Clayface, Dr Psycho - are really well written, and are a great group of anti-heroes to get behind.
The show also fits in appearances from other DC veterans - Joker, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Bane, Queen of Fables, Black Manta, The Flash, Lex Luthor, Scarecrow, Giganta, The Riddler, Kite Man, Robin - are just a few that get a look in. It's great for DC fans, and funny enough to appeal to wider audiences.
It's very adult orientated as well - whilst looking like a typical kids superhero show, the illusion will suddenly be shattered by a tirade of swearing, or over the top gore, it's truly not messing around, and it works really well!
Harley Quinn was a massive pleasant surprise for me. Can't wait to watch more!
David McK (3425 KP) rated The Last Hero (Discworld, #27; Rincewind #7) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.