The Invention of Hugo Cabret (by Brian Selznick)

When an illustrator writes a novel, interesting things can happen.  The official website notes that Selznick's book is "not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things."  Hugo's story is told by pictures and by text, but each in their own place.  The pictures do not illustrate what has already been written, and the text does not describe the drawings.  Each tell part of the story, and tell it well.  This is a fantastic piece of work, and an excellent story for children.  The plot itself is a little predictable, but the medium is enchanting.  Besides, historical fiction about resourceful orphans has lasted for a reason.  I'd be thrilled to see more books influenced by Selznick's graphic/literary style. 

Note: The heft of the 500+ page book may intimidate a few readers, but bear in mind that more than half of the pages are taken up by gorgeous illustration.   If Diary of a Wimpy Kid weren't nominated in the same YRCA category this year, I'd expect this one to win.

Beyond Palomar

Gilbert Hernandez' Palomar stories are among the best tales told in graphic format. Originally published along with his brother Jaime's work in the Love and Rockets comics, they've been gathered and reissued in trade paperbacks. 

Hernandez' stories are complex and intricately woven, inviting second and third readings.  Small details often prove significant long after they first appear, as he develops his stories slowly, relationship by relationship, decade by decade.

Beyond Palomar contains two graphic novels.  Poison River traces the tumultuous family history and youth of Luba from the 1950s to 70s.  Those familiar with the series will already know her as the excessively buxom, hammer-wielding mayor of Palomar, a small town in an unspecified part of Central America.  The story is strong enough to stand alone, and should satisfy both new and initiated readers. 

I was less impressed by  Love and Rockets X, a shorter story tacked on at the end of the book.  This snapshot of 1980s Los Angeles doesn't feel complete on its own. I suspect that the publisher just wasn't sure what else to group it with when the complete (at the time) Love and Rockets collection came out a few years ago.  The story is fine, but it doesn't resonate with me the way the Palomar stories do.

Jack of Fables: The Big Book of War / Fables: The Great Fables Crossover

Jack  is a spin-off from the Fables comics, this series features an extreme narcissist who has no comprehension of hubris. Jack is one of my least favourite Fables characters, and the storyline isn't as compelling as the original comic, but it's entertainingly absurd, pleasantly light, and often quite funny.  The Big Book of War offers another excellent opportunity for Jack to show off his incompetent leadership and lack of morals.

Fables volume 13, The Great Fables Crossover, detours away from the current plotline with the new and mostly unknown antagonist, Mr. Dark.  Instead, the action begins where Jack: The Big Book of War leaves off, wrapped up in a meta-literary battle between embodiments of story, and personifications of literary elements. This volume involves a few of the strongest Fables protagonists, but still features Jack a little too much for my liking.  While there's a fair amount of Deus Ex Machina used to wrap up this arc, it's used purposefully tongue-in-cheek.  I'm happy to see the end of the meta-literary/where-did-we-come-from storyline, although there are a few questions I still would have liked answered.  Perhaps when my library finally gets volume 5 of Jack on the shelves I'll find a few pertinent details I've been looking for.

I'm looking forward to a resumption of regular programming in the next volume.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

This mash-up of an abridged Jane Austin original and new zombified content by Seth Grahame-Smith is silly, but not as over-the-top ridiculous as I had hoped it would be.  Abridging the original content shaves depth from the characters and themes and leaves the story feeling shallow.  This would be fine if the new elements made up for the loss, but  the Zombies tend to exist on the sidelines of the story and aren't given enough chance to run havoc with the tale.  I also would have like the story better if Elizabeth's nature had been consistent with Austen's original.  Grahame-Smith's Elizabeth has a crude and impolitely murderous streak that is at odds with the woman I was hoping to see, particularly as she could have been transformed into a kick-ass warrior without it.

Lucifer [10] Morningstar (by Mike Carey)

Volume 10 of Lucifer arrived this week, teaching me that sometimes books can take 2 months to go from "newly arrived" to actually available in my library system.  I'm curious about where the backlogs and bottlenecks in the process are, but I'm not sure I'll ever know without working in the technical services department.  We're also in the midst of a hiring freeze so I suspect those departments have been left with unfilled vacancies, resulting in predictable delays.

Morningstar is the second to last volume of Lucifer (discussed here) and contains the climactic moments of this series.  Brief impressions: My discomfort grows in regards to the overtly judeo-christian power structure imposed upon the world I still equate with the Sandman comics.  My affection for the character Elaine is unabated. She makes this series for me.

Korgi, Book 1: Sprouting Wings (by Christian Slade)

Korgi is a wordless comic about a fairy-like girl and her magical corgi-like dog who evade some mean monsters.  Nice emotive ink drawings.  Clear, straight-forward narrative.  Good for building visual literacy skills and teaching children to tell a story with their own words.

The Van Alen Legacy (by Melissa De La Cruz)

I've tried reading a few of the current teen series that fall into the genre of urban fantasy / supernatural romance as they seem to be so popular lately.  Melissa De La Cruz' Blue Bloods series was fun enough for me to keep reading beyond the first book, but it may be continuing beyond my attention span when there's so much good stuff out there to read.

The premise, and yes it's a little silly: vampires are fallen angels seeking redemption.  They currently live as a coven of New York socialites and high society elites.  Mystery and thwarted romance keep the series going.

Peter & Max (by Bill Willingham)

Peter & Max is the first grown-up novel I've read (or rather, finished)* in over a year.  It's written by my current favourite graphic novel author, Bill Willingham, and occurs in the world of his Fables comics.

The story can be read by the uninitiated and comes across quite well as a novel.  It begins with a brief historical lesson that brings readers up to date with the premise, then hops between the protagonists formative years and the present crisis those events set in motion.  As a reader of Willingham's comics, I found it fascinating that the tone, plot, pacing and dialogue all felt so very familiar.  I'd be curious to hear how non-Fables readers found the book.  I felt that the story itself wasn't as compelling as some of Willingham's previous plotlines, but I enjoyed the read nonetheless.  

* I started reading Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist after watching the fantastic Swedish movie, but found that my mind wasn't in a dark enough place to follow through with it at the time.

Fire (by Kristin Cashore)

I've started slacking on keeping these notes.  I've read five books since I've last posted, so the next reviews may be a little brief as I attempt to catch up.

Fire is the second novel by Kristin Cashore.  It's a companion novel to Graceling, but can be read perfectly well on its own. Like Graceling, Fire follows a strong female protagonist, born with unusual but not unheard of skills.  The eponymous Fire is able to entrance people and control their thoughts or actions.   She is reluctant to use these skills, after witnessing the grave results of her father's abuse of the power, but there are, of course, complications that cause her to question her decision.

This story considers personal ethics, romance, and the idea of being hated for what one was born rather than who one is.  There is a lot of personal growth and strength of mind that teen (and non-teen) readers will embrace.  The writing is strong, and the premise is fairly sound.  Several times I found myself poking holes in the story only to find my issues addressed soon after.  I always appreciate it when an author considers the intelligence of her readers and makes the effort to build a sound premise for our imaginations to play in.