Review: Mike Norton's Battlepug

Grade: B (3 Stars) for Mike's graphic novel, releasing July 17th, 2012

The epic tale of blood and drool begins here! Join Molly and her dogs Mingo and Colfax, as she recounts the legend of "The Warrior and the Battlepug" - a tale of a fearless barbarian, his trusty and freakishly large pug, and evil baby harp seals. This volume collects the first year of Mike Norton's Battlepug - the perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the fan-favorite webcomic by Mike Norton, Allen Passalaqua, and Crank

The Story is told to two dogs, Colfax and Mingo, by their owner Molly.


Plus:

Love the interaction between the dogs - super snarky and just like two siblings quarreling.
Also - Happy Killer Baby Seals (tm) are so funny!
What fantastic colours! Highlights are the humour, and terrific artwork. The conan-the-barbarian body and fighting style of our hero on the pug is great to look at!

Minus:
The fable our narrator tells is an over-used plotline. The gathering of a band, the omens and prophecy, were a little too obvious. Perhaps the artwork and design took precedence over plot and storyline? Why did Molly have to narrate while naked? No explanation, aside from the obvious appeal to a male reader.

Overall/Recommended to:
This is MUST read for all pug-owners, naturally. I'm not myself going to read the rest of the comic (available at the website below) right now, the storyline didn't leave me wanting more.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dark Horse comics for the copy to review.


Where to find Battlepug:

On Goodreads
Mike's online ongoing Battlepug comic

Fictional Birthdays and Lessons learned from fictional romances

The awesome people at Flavorwire have come up with a picture that depicts a fictional character's birthday for each day of the year! You can check who your birthday twin is - is it Sherlock Holmes (Jan6th) Or Severus Snape or James Bond? 

Refinery29 has a neat article on love lessons learned from four fictional men (think Rhett Butler style) - http://www.refinery29.com/love-lessons-fictional-men
Who doesn't have a crush on a fictional character? If not the classic Mr. Darcy, it was probably a dark and stormy Heathcliff, or perhaps a sparkly Edward ? I loved Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing! This article uses TV characters..
Happy Weekend reading!

Teaser Tuesday #47: The Dance of Time & Free Books!

The past few weeks I've realized just how good at military fiction Eric Flint is. Now, back to the teaser game - Here's a teaser from Eric Flint's The Dance of Time (Belisarius series):

"The Malwa commander took a deep breath; then, slowly, sighed it out. "We can't hold Multan," he said quietly, speaking more to himself than to the lieutenant."

You can read most of Eric's books for free here or buy them from Baen.
How does the publisher give so many books away for FREE you ask? See This post on Baen and their free library.

Really Mini Summary:
Warfare and strategy in a Roman culture - pretty good stuff! Multiple cultures, two strong female protagonists, the decisive and effective Belisarius, and a whole lot of military action. This isn't for the faint-hearted.
Engrossing enough that I'm reading the entire series in a row.

To begin reading, here is the first free book in the Belisarius series, An Oblique Approach.
Let me know if you follow this blog, I'll follow back! 

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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!

Teaser Tuesday #46: the first since my son's arrival!

Aaryan, Week 5

The last months of my pregnancy and My son's arrival derailed my memes on E-volving books. This is him in a rare snoozing session!

Now, back to the teaser game - Here's a teaser from Eric Flint's The Tide of Victory:

"But that order—and its consequences—remain mine to bear. No one else. Nor can I trade it against other consequences, as if ruthlessness was a commodity which can be exchanged in a village market"

You can read most of Eric's books for free here or buy them from Baen.
How does the publisher give so many books away for FREE you ask? See This post on Baen and their free library.

Ever wonder What to read next?

I've recently been looking for new reading material but didn't want to delve into my existing TBR list (Not sure why..).
Here are two great ways to grow your Fantasy To Be Read list:

• Best of Year list from Fantasy Literature which covers a few of my favs from 2011 -      http://www.fantasyliterature.com/category/best-of-the-year/
• Your Goodreads recommendations page for a genre of your choice - requires you to be a member of Goodreads and logged in:                               http://www.goodreads.com/recommendations/shelf/fantasy

A third way to pick what next? Ask folks on your blog!!
What do YOU recommend I read next? I promise to pick one from the comments and read & review in a week.  
While I do read mostly fantasy, I am open to other genres IF you are recommending an outstanding book.