Space Battle Lunchtime Vol 1: Lights Camera Snacktion

Aug 19, 2017

From Our TBR Pile

Space Battle Lunchtime Vol 1: Lights Camera Snacktion

Space Battle Lunchtime Vol 1: Lights Camera Snacktion
By: Natalie Riess
Release Date: 2016
Publisher: Oni Press
Series: Space Battle Lunchtime #1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:

Here’s a little known fact. I watch a probably unhealthy amount of cooking shows. Not the ones where they actually show you how to make a dish. Nope. I know I can’t cook without the supervision of my mother, even nearing thirty. (Sorry Mom.) I watch all the cooking competition shows. Because, well, everyone has a not quite so guilty pleasure, right? Space Battle Lunchtime, Vol 1: Lights, Camera, Snacktion! by Natalie Riess is everything I never knew I needed in a graphic novel. It’s fun, it’s cute, it’s in outer space, and it’s a cooking showdown.

Yes, please.

Aug 17, 2017

From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

Review: Killing is My Business by Adam Christopher

Killing is My Business
By: Adam Christopher
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Publisher: Tor
Series: Ray Electromatic Mysteries
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:

It may not be immediately obvious from the SFF theme of this blog, but I love a good mystery story. The Ray Electromatic Mysteries by Adam Christopher scratches both itches. Killing is my Business is the second book in this series. It is set in a 1960s noir Los Angeles, features a robot assassin nee private detective, and is more fun than it has any right to be.

What can I say? Robots are cool, damn it, and there should be more stories with them. Or maybe it’s my twelve year old self talking. Either way, I love this concept. I love this series. And more people should be talking about it.

Aug 15, 2017

From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

Review: Overlord, Vol. 4: The Lizardmen Heroes by Kugane Maruyama

Overlord, Vol. 4: The Lizardmen Heroes
By: Hajime Kanzaka
Release Date: (Original) July 31, 2013; (English) May 23, 2017
Publisher: Yen On
Series: Overlord #4
Rating:

Moving is hard. We’ve all done it and we’ve all hated it. It’s stressful, it takes up all of your free time, and all of your books get stuck in boxes. Including the brand new, released-two-days-before-moving-day copy of one of your favorite fantasy light novels. But the boxes are finally empty and Overlord, Vol 4 has been read! Overlord, Vol 4: The Lizardmen Heroes by Kugane Maruyama is a high fantasy adventure following characters who, in another story, would probably be bad guys.

Aug 12, 2017

From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

Review: Heathen by Natasha Alterici

Heathen
By: Natasha Alterici
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: Vault Comics
Series: Heathen #1-4
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:

When I first saw the cover and read the description I knew I had to read this graphic novel. Heathen by Natasha Alterici is a fantasy tale set in Eastern Europe involving the Nordic gods and a female Viking warrior banished from her homeland for kissing another woman.

Okay. I know this is the part where I go into the plot a little bit. But, first thing’s first. Please allow me to gush about the art.

Aug 10, 2017

From Our TBR Pile New & Upcoming Releases

Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien (Review)

Beren and Luthien
By: J.R.R. Tolkien (Edited by Christopher Tolkien)
Release Date: June 1, 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Middle Earth Universe
Rating:

Every time I see that a new Tolkien book is being published I get unbelievably excited. I can’t help it. Tolkien’s works were one of the first adult fantasy series I’d ever read, and has remained a life-long love. Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Christopher Tolkien is the last in a long line of posthumously published works focusing on Middle Earth. This one tells the story of Beren and Luthien, one of the tales found within the Silmarillion.

Aug 03, 2017

From Our TBR Pile Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday: The Ghost of Sairaag by Hajime Kanzaka

The Ghost of Sairaag
By: Hajime Kanzaka
Release Date: (Original Japanese 1991); (English Translation) March 8, 2005
Publisher: TokyoPop
Series: Slayers #3
Rating:

I really wish these books were still being translated. The series is a lot of fun, and the books don’t disappoint. This is actually the second time I’ve read The Ghost of Sairaag by Hajime Kanzaka in only a few months. I’d originally started it less than a week before moving, so of course the book got packed away in a box I couldn’t find upon move in, the last chapter still unread. At this point I figured I may as well read the whole thing over again, something I’m never against when it’s one of my favorite series.

Jul 29, 2017

New & Upcoming Releases

(Upcoming Release!) Review: Urban Enemies edited by Joseph Nassise

Urban Enemies
By: (Editor) Joseph Nassise
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Gallery Books
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:

Villains are intriguing characters. I’ve always liked a well fleshed out villain, one that’s a little more than evil cackling and petting cats. Urban Enemies, edited by Joseph Nassise and released August 1, 2017, is a book that definitely scratches that itch.

Jul 25, 2017

From Our TBR Pile

Review: Attack On Titan, Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan, Vol. 1
By: Hajime Isayama
Release Date: (English Translation) June 19, 2012
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Series: Attack on Titan #1
Award: Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shounen Manga (2011), 『エンタミクス』NEXTブレイク漫画ランキング BEST50 for 2nd place (当時1巻) (2010)
Rating:

This isn’t the first time I’ve read Attack on Titan Vol. 1 by Hajime Isayama. The first time was quite some time ago, right around when the English version was released. This time was because I’d picked up a used copies of the first two volumes in the series at a used book sale. But this is the first time I’ve read the manga with a more critical eye.

Jul 22, 2017

From Our TBR Pile

Review: Conspiracy of Ravens by Lila Bowen

Conspiracy of Ravens
By: Lila Bowen
Release Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Orbit
Series: The Shadow #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:

I loved almost everything about Wake of Vultures, the first book in The Shadow series by Lila Bowen. I loved the protagonist, the world it was set in, and the side characters. With the cliffhanger ending I knew I needed to read the next one as quickly as possible. When I got an early copy of Conspiracy of Ravens, the second book of the series, I was initially ecstatic. So why, then did it sit at a measly 7% read on my kindle for months and months on end?

Jul 09, 2017

From Our TBR Pile

Review: Konosuba: God’s Blessings on This Wondrous World!, Vol. 1 by Natsume Akatsuki

Konosuba: God's Blessings on This Wondrous World!, Vol. 1
By: Natsume Akatsuki
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Publisher: Yen On
Series: Konosuba #1
Rating:

I love everything fantasy. Fantasy novels. Fantasy light novels. Fantasy manga. High fantasy. Low fantasy. Magical realism. All of it. I’ve seen all the tropes, all the clichés, and format specific tendencies. Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!, Vol. 1 by Natsume Akatsuki takes every single one of those, plays with it, and turns it on its head.

Series