"Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe" by Stacy King (& Edgar Allan Poe)

"Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe" is a manga adaptation of five of Edgar Allan Poe's stories (and poem): "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Raven", "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (you have to wonder why those and not others maybe better suited for a manga adaptation). And the result, even if far of a tragedy, is a middling effort that leaves the reader with a strange aftertaste, because you will feel the ingredients for a great work were here, but the mixing and the cooking were a disgrace.

Let's start with the stories: they are short and to the point, with darkness, a Gothic and beautiful atmosphere and dark instincts. No criticisms here. But the adaptation does little to enhance Poe's words; quite the opposite, with so many bubbles of description and narration and no interaction between them and the drawings, it detaches the reader from the work they have in front of their eyes. Stories that should bring a shudder and make the heart beat fast, end up being boring, cold, and repetitive.

It doesn't help that the drawing style, even if beautiful, seems too cute for these kind of stories. All the characters are too clean, too handsome, too infantile, for the stories, and make the stark contrast between text and art more accentuated.

Not a horrible manga. But it could have been so much more (for starters, alive).

The best: the atmosphere; it will make you want to go and read the original Edgar Allan Poe

The worst: too many bubbles of description and narration and not enough (almost not at all) of dialogue (and I know art is art (for example, you can have a comic without dialogue), but I expect my drawings and my text to interact); too cold; too cute; some other stories (better for the medium, could have been chosen)

Further reading: go read Edgar Allan Poe

5/10

(Original English)

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy*

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (Sueños en el umbral. Memorias de una niña del harén)

This is a charming book that tells the story of a young girl in the small world she grows up in, not small because it is just a room, but small because of the limitations the society/family she lives in puts her. A girl, and the other women that live with her, that, nonetheless, tries to fight the walls that surround her every walking day. In this semi-(never sure about how much truth are in these stories, so...) autobiographical account, Mernissi waves a world that doesn't change even if it is in constant fluidity, with the lines pushed one or the other way, with the women within the 'harem' having their liberty more or less 'free' depending on developments many times too far away for them to have any influence on (even if they suffer their impact). You have the rebel ones, the desire for freedom, the men that can't understand that rules can be changed... All the topics and the typical. The atmosphere, the characters, the struggle against sexism or gender relations is well depicted, with a clear message and interesting situations. However, it also seems pretty clear that Mernissi has written the book with 'Occident' in her mind, and some of the moments and situations seem to suffer from 'Orientalism', as they offer a view, an ogling eye on the situations, that seems to fit too perfectly, too nicely, with what a person from Occident should expect from growing up in Morocco. In that respect, it kind of reinforces what Edward Said criticized. What repercussions have this on the book? That's up to you to decide. The best: the atmosphere of the story The worst: pandering to the worst instincts of 'Orientalism' Read more: not really sure, so why not bring up the "كتاب ألف ليلة وليلة" ("One Thousand and One Nights") that plays so huge a role in the book? 6.5/10 (Spanish translation by Ángela Pérez Gómez)

Robyn Hood: Outlaw

I have to recognize that 'superhero' comic books are not my cup of tea. All those vigilante types or creatures with superpowers from this or another planet didn't call my attention when I was younger, even if I read some "Ironman" or "The Fantastic Four" (lent by a schoolmate). I was more into novels, and a little bit into manga and European comic books like "Asterix". Nowadays I don't read many comic books either, but I am interested in them and I am always open to try something new. And here we come to "Robyn Hood: Outlaw" of which the first that called my attention was it cover. It looks cool, I thought. Well, I started reading it. Ah, nice, I thought, even if not particularly original: we are thrown into the story when our heroine comes home and discovers her friend almost dead in her apartment. It's a trap! Robyn Hood has to run away from the police and clear her name. And save her friend, now in the hospital. And mix with some maybe shady types. Etc., etc. Haven't we seen this before? Yes, we have, but curiously or not, I found "Robyn Hood: Outlaw" a very well done work, with interesting characters, nice pace, and a well done plot that, even if not particularly original, never becomes boring and uninteresting. Also the art work is top notch, and it brings the story nicely to life. From the first page we are thrown into the story, and the reader will discover that accompanying our protagonist is lots of fun, with new plot development after new plot development that brings the comic to many different places in a brisk place. This could be one of its downsides, actually, because sometimes we jump from a place to another, or from a new character to another new one in too few pages, all too brusque, without given us time to settle down or digest what we are reading. Minor quibbles, though. "Robyn Hood: Outlaw" is a very entertaining, well done, nicely depicted comic book. I will be waiting for more adventures (or find previous ones) of Robyn Hood. The best: I liked the art work, the characters, the heroine, the atmosphere and the world; quite cool The worst: the plot is a little bit simple and not very original; it ends too brusquely and the same happens within the volume too, with some changes of pace that could have been better done Alternatives: "OnePunch Man", do yourself a favor 8/10 (Original English)

War and Peas: Funny Comics for Dirty Lovers

*Provided by Netgalley (as always a great opportunity to read some amazing works) "War and Peas" is a very funny comic book, with interesting little characters that appear all through its pages that reminded me of early Terry Pratchett, when simple humor and plays on words where the basis of his stories. In "War and Peas" the same happens. You have little vignettes that tell a story in just one, two pages, all of the dark humor kind. And Jonathan Kunz and Elizabeth Pich have done a great job in creating a simple but charming, engaging, tongue in cheek, with lots of dark humor, comic, where recurrent characters like the robot, the dead boy, the witch... have some very funny moments. It is never boring, and it's read in a sitting. On the downside, it is not anything that you haven't seen a hundred times before, because many of these play of words, vignettes, are just variations of many others, and that means that sometimes there will be more chuckles than laughs. And a couple just fall flat (but that could be my sense of humor, more than they being bad per se). The drawing style is simple, but perfect for this kind of comics, where the punchline, the little details, and the humor are the most important part. They convey perfectly the authors' purpose and are very funny. Strongly recommended. The best: the humor and drawing style The worst: not particularly original Further reading: just try Terry Pratchett, or the first volumes of OnePunch Man, for example 7.5/10 (Original English)

Erebos (Erebos) - Ursula Poznanski

Nick is surprised when some of his classmates seem to be very interested in some mysterious CD going around school, all exchanging it very hush hush. Not only so, but some of them are skipping classes and even the basketball training, and it seems it is because of this CD. Nick, our 'cool young hero', tries to find a way into this mysterious world, and finally he does, when one of his classmates gives him a copy of the CD. But it is not a music CD, but a video-game... and playing it will change Nick's life forever... "Erebos" is an entertaining YA novel, where a mysterious game seems to be taking over the lives of some high school students with dangerous consequences. It is all light enough (well, there are some not so light moments in the book but they are not really dwelt into) and in general the story is quite simple and nothing becomes too complicated. Poznanski does an OK job in developing the story and the characters, and in making the plot engaging, even if one has to wonder why our 'hero' takes some of the decisions he takes, because in many cases his character (and some of the the other characters in the book) development is rushed and clumsily handed. And the book also expends too much time in the 'game' world. But it never becomes boring, and you will turn the pages waiting to see what will happen next. Don't go expecting anything that will change your life, but an entertaining book that will fill a couple of summer afternoons and you will be in for a threat. The best: easy to read; it becomes addictive, like the game; the mysterious atmosphere The worst: the writing; there doesn't really happen much; poor and superficial character development; too many pages expended on the "Erebos" world by Nick and the author The skinny: YA for the summer, without much depth or complications Other options: I've seen many people comparing it to "Ready Player One"; as I haven't read that one, I can't say anything about it; I think "The Hunger Games" series or "Harry Potter" are way better YA than this one, and with way better characters. 6.5/10 (Catalan Translation by Carlota Vallès Ferré & Michael Steinmetz )

Метро 2033 (Metro 2033) - Dmitry Glukhovsky

This is a disappointment. A futuristic, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi novel where the only survivors seem to live in the metro of Moscow could make for a thrilling read, right? Oh, you would be wrong... "Metro 2033" tells the story of Artyom, who gets the mission to get to Polis to alert of a non-very-clear danger that can kill everyone that lives in the Metro, the poor, lonely survivors after everyone else died in a kaboom end of the world full of nuclear bombs, where soldiers were always calling home to ask about their wives and daughters and the only hope was to hide and survive in the stations underground... These poor souls still alive eat mushrooms and pigs (?), survive on filtered water (really?) and have some kind of electricity and the economy is based on the exchange of cartridges. Artyom has this very difficult mission to cross different metro stations walking (cough cough) given to him by Hunter, you know, cool name, because the 'Dark Ones' are invading his station and probably the whole world. Cue Artyom saying, yeah, why not, and going to the next station with a group of people trying to put a telegraph between both stations (bear with me). Pretty soon a dark and mysterious sound almost kills everyone and only Artyom can save them. The group ends getting to the station where another random character tells Artyom to join him to go to another station. End of the story. Or it could end here. Because Glukhovsky's lame attempt at a novel is based on this pattern: Artyom meets a person in a station, they walk from one station to another and along the way a mysterious, dark and magical force tries to stop them, but they finally get to the next station, where, for some mysterious reason, Artyom parts with his previous partner to join forces with another for the next trip to another station where... A loop. A boring, lame loop where it is all always the same. Ironically Glukhovsky thinks he is making some groundbreaking novel where the metro represents the real world because he talks about Communism or Socialism or Nazis that have taken over some of the stations. But instead of the book showing, the characters developing and things happening, all goes: shoots, this group is blah blah blah because, I, the author, is telling you so, and they represent blah blah blah... It is a mess, it is boring, it is repetitive. And that without getting into the absence of female characters (like, just one, close to the end of the book) and the constant messages about them being wives and daughters and the need to protect them (hu?). Horrible. Worse than the metro at rush hour (I know, lame; like this novel). The best: well, I have a soft spot for sci-fi, but here... The worst: everything: character construction and development, plot development, that women are 'wives and mothers', the 'I meet someone, problem, we part, I meet someone, problem, we part' way the novel develops, the idea that humanity would have changed so much in so little, no one could believe that anyone would have survived in a so poorly organized metro, the magical elements, the sci-fi elements, the militarism, the in-your-face messages that the author telegraphs and writes to show how deep the story is... I could go on and on for ever... but it's almost 2033. Oh, and the poor translation, littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Instead of this: Read "Dune", "The Forever War", "Stranger in Strange Land", "Cryptonomicon", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "The Handmaid's Tale"... If you want some funny and silly sci-fi, try Shinichi Hoshi's short stories. There are too many options to lose time with this one. 3/10 (English translation by Natasha Randall)

終着駅(ターミナル)殺人事件 - Kyōtarō Nishimura (西村 京太郎)

Another Nishimura novel; it must be that time of the year when I want to read about train timetables. "終着駅(ターミナル)殺人事件", or "The case of the murder at the terminal station", is your quintessential Nishimura novel: Totsugawa and Kamei (here Sakurai or others don't have more than a passing mention) investigating some mysterious deaths that have a lot to do with trains. Here, it is a group of seven friends from Aomori who get killed one by one, the first one dying at Ueno Station just before the start of a trip of the group together back to their hometown. Kamei, who is also from the north, is one of the first policemen at the crime scene and pretty soon Totsugawa and the team are investigating the case. Curiously, though, in this case we get little of the investigation, as Nishimura expends a lot of time with the group of friends, starting from the very beginning of the book, when we get the chance to see them meeting again, getting on the train, etc. It is a very good start to the novel and shows that Nishimura knew how to create fleshed out and interesting characters. Unfortunately for the reader, this doesn't translate through the length of the novel, as we get bogged down with too many unnecessary conversations and too many pages around the speed of trains, or the stops a train makes along the way. This is your basic problem with a Nishimura novel: if you don't like trains, you will hate him. He expends always too much time talking, describing, contemplating trains, time tables, ways to go from point A to B to explain the mystery, instead of expending time developing characters, making a good mystery or making things thrilling. For example, there is a moment when there is a possible 'closed room murder'. Instead of dwelling onto it, he goes back to his trains. This doesn't mean the novel is boring, no, because it is one of his best, starting with the group of suspects/victims and following with our policemen Totsugawa and Kamei. But knowing that he can create amazing set-ups, it is a pity that he seems to be unable to deliver on the expectations he himself creates. The best: it is not your average Nishimura novel with hundreds of conversations about train tables (I mean, it is, but not as much as others); it is also not so repetitive as some of his other novels; the beginning, as always, is great, and introduces the mystery and the characters nicely; Totsugawa, Kamei and company are always fun to be with The worst: it is still about trains; the answer to the mystery... well, it is not much of a mystery Alternatives: any of his other novels if you like this one or anything like this; you have other options in Japanese mystery novels: Higashino Keigo, Kirino Natsuo, Miyabe Miyuki, Kishi Yusuke, Akimitsu Takagi or the grand Edogawa Ranpo; you can also go to other languages and places like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie or more modern ones like Val McDermid, Camilla Läckberg or Henning Mankell. Options, too many options... 6.5/10 (Original Japanese Version)