Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics!!!

I really do thank God for NetGalley ALL The Time.
One more reason why: Getting to read Avatar comics pre-release!
Rating: A
What Avatar The Last Airbender (A:TLA) comic is: "The Promise Part 1" is a beautifully done story, by the same Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators of the popular TV series.

Why I picked it up: You might know we've been doing an Avatar Watch/Rewatch at home of the comic series,we're in the middle of Season 3: Fire (the last season, FYI). I read that this comic takes up where the comic series leaves off.

Why I finished it: Seeing Sokka, Aang, Momo, Appa and the gang and the breathtaking coloring resulted in one long session of reading this comic. I tried to draw it out but just couldn't resist finishing the story.

The Story: Written by Gene Lang, the good people at Dark Horse (the publishers) have stayed true to the original theme of the comics. Without spoilers, here's what you get - 
Awesome fight scenes and peace talks that break down. The innocent fun we expect of Aang, and the intense Zuko scenes.Serious Aang features too. Furious and awe-inspiring Katara. Scenes with bit characters like Smellerbee (remember him/her? He was in Season 2, with the refugees)


Extra info: 
I found Gene's website and it added some interesting context to this comic - why he wrote it the way he did, how he refuses to acknowledge Night Shyamalam's movie version of Avatar as canon (Dear Gene, we all hate his movie too).

A Memory of Light - Draft done!

Brandon Sanderson tweeted saying he's done with draft one of A Memory of Light, the final Wheel of Time book!

We know that he isn't touching parts of the story that have already been written by Robert Jordan. We also saw a lot of improvement between the previous two books, and certainly we shall see a fantastic series ending novel!

There is a lot happening in the books just now, building towards the climax - Rand's mind is whole, the men's Black Tower is a crazy place, Semirhage, Graendal, Mesaana lie defeated, the White Tower stands united; On the flip side, Moridin's grand plan is yet unveiled, the Aiel undead is a surprise twist, we still don't know the song the Leaf People have (and perhaps the travellers are looking for...) AND MORE. There are tons of unresolved questions and prophecies, so this book is really going to have a lot riding on it.
Second half of 2012 is the release!


You can read my review of Towers of Midnight here
Read a review of The Gathering Storm here
Never heard of the Wheel of Time before? Go right here!

Holmes for the Holidays

The recent Holiday vacation season gives me a week off, and I've just spent a large chunk of it reading Laurie King's Sherlock Holmesian mysteries. I'm still on the first one, and it is pretty interesting!
This Holmes reading time coincides with the recent spate of promotions around the newest Sherlock Holmes movie by Guy Ritchie...AND far more interestingly, the trailer for the BBC Holmes is out - I present to you: Steven Moffat's brilliantly rendered Sherlock series (part 2) beginning 01.01.12

P.S. This is my first embedded video on this blog, so do let me know if it does/doesn't work in your browser. We loved watching the first series (split into three parts as it airs on BBC). Each part corresponds to one of the Sherlock mysteries from the Arthur Conan Doyle books. Very different from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock, and a "must see"!

Neil Gaiman and The Sandman novels/comics

The amazing Neil Gaiman is back with "The Annotated Sandman" - the first volume is out Jan 10th from Vertigo Comics.
If you haven't heard or read The Sandman comics yet - I would HIGHLY, highly recommend that you go find them at your nearest library right now. I would say book store or library, but they were always too expensive for my then-student's pocket.
Blurb from The Sandman: 

Meet the Endless, a family of immortals that govern all aspects of life and death throughout the universe. However, one of theirown lays captured--Dream, the Lord of Sleep. As Dream makes his escape and returns to his duties after 70 years of imprison-ment, he encounters countless characters from myth, legend and comics, from Lucifer himself to the tragic Greek hero Orpheusto the HELLBLAZER John Constantine.

Right. The blurb tells you nothing.

It doesn't say that the Sandman graphic novels are amongst the most creative works of art you will ever see, anywhere. Just wait till you get into Book 2, and begin to see the genius of the story and characters!


The Annotated Sandman will do a page-by-page discussion on each Sandman comic. The first three pages are available here at tor.com, and we get a sense of the crazy detail and historical references that the Annotation covers.
Read this only after you read Sandman, this would be a great second/third read of the Sandman comics.

Not feeling so well today

I meant to have a nice post today about one of my latest reads (I've been re-reading Elizabeth Moon, and reading Rick Riordan for the first time), but I'm feverish and lethargic.

Perhaps the new Avatar:The Last Airbender Comic I got courtesy NetGalley will be entertaining enough? 
It picks up where the anime series from Nickelodean ends, and is by Gene Luen Yang. I sure hope so!

SFF = Science fiction & fantasy

The weirdest conversation I've been in recently started with me talking about my love for SFF novels, and then degenerated into "Oh, SFF stands for...".


Really, how do you describe fantasy to someone who seems to think it is only Twilight or Harry Potter?
Sounds juvenile any way you do it.
*sigh* This is how I felt: (see picture ->)


Help?

P.S. I do read YA too, and Harry Potter is awesome. I'm not saying that I think YA is juvenile, just that Fantasy does include other styles of writing too.

Missing: One McCaffrey

The recent passing (21st Nov,2011) of Anne McCaffrey will affect all SFF readers everywhere. While she isn't my "all time fav" author, her books have been part of my reading repetoire, and I'm sure, part of many other scifi-fantasy lovers' reading lists.


Her DragonRiders of Pern stories defined dragons in books, and set the bar for other authors to beat. While reading her books now might feel a little trite, it is only because she was the first to write in that style, and has been inspiration for many other popular writers.
A good place to start would be the Harper Hall books.


Not just Pern: If you haven't read any non-Pern McCaffrey books, may I suggest the Acorna series, or the Planet Raiders series, or the Crystal universe. Yes, she was a prolific writer with a long career!


Need inspiration?
Here are some of the best covers, in a Tor post written by the cover illustrator himself, Michael Whelan: 
The Inspiration of Anne McCaffrey (Tor.com)

Teaser Tuesday - Fury 02 - Green-Eyed Envy

The Teaser Tuesday is back - after a couple of months of no memes here on E-Volving Books.
I just finished Drink Deep (Merit, an UF Vampire series) and am halfway through the second book in a Fury series by Kasey Mackenzie. I picked it up because an urban fantasy around Furies was new, and thought it might be worth checking out.
 
"Recognition hit Harper like a punch to the stomach. She staggered a crooked step back, brushing up against Scott behind her and Penn to her right."
 
Mini Review:
The first book was decent, but this novel isn't nearly as kick-ass. The heroine isn't going full fury-mode and fighting very much so far. The mystery she is solving doesn't appear to require typical detective skills, and the plot devices are weak.
My rating: Meh.

***

To join into the TT fun, visit the link below!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Kindle Fire - Launched 15th Nov!

The big giant Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, a Tablet!
There's been tons of speculation on the divide between the Kindle and a full-throttle tablet - or more commonly, "Kindle vs.iPad".
This isn't a surprise - Barnes & Nobles launched the Nook Color, and the news around the Amazon competitor launch has been all over the place.
Retailing at $199, reviews rave about the reading and store-browsing ease, but say that the browser is laughable.

This ties in with  my experience of the Kindle - works great for reading, but the browser is "experimental" and weak.


MY personal checklist on ebook readers/tablets has to be battery life and overall weight of the device. I'd like to go for days without recharging - hours of reading shouldn't take a toll on my hands or my device.
Sadly, it looks like those two qualities aren't to be found in the Kindle Fire.


Overall, Amazon should be more concerned that they will cannibalize sales of the Kindle Dx - Most customers would pick the iPad/Blackberry Playbook/Samsung Galaxy Tab over the Kindle Fire.

Buying the new Kindle - For Indians

The 6" Wifi-only Kindle is only $139, but we Indians like even better deals. The same Kindle, with the ads or as is officially known, "Kindle with Offers" retails at $114, or about $25 cheaper. That works out to $25 or Rs.1000+ off. Worth it? Let's find out!

1. In India, the 3G version will anyway not be used, as the 3G network is not supported for free. WiFi only will suffice, as long as your home is enabled.
2. These offers/ads only show up on the main screen or when the "sleep" mode is enabled.

What does that mean for you?
To begin with, most Kindle readers will not need to switch the WiFi on. Personally, I prefer to switch the WiFi off and so prolong battery life (atleast 15-20 reading hours).


You can use Calibre to organize and share books with your Kindle. 
 Download, Convert and Send to Kindle, all in one!


Thanks to Sumit for asking the question that prompted this post!