Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan wakes / James S.A. Corey. -- New York : Orbit, c2011.
582 p. ; 24 cm.
(The Expanse ; book 1)
ISBN: 9780316129084 (pbk.)
"James S.A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck..." page 567

1. Conspiracies – Fiction. 2. Interplanetary voyages – Fiction. 3. Science fiction. 4. Space warfare – Fiction.

813.6

Even though he grew up in the gravity well of Earth, executive officer Jim Holden of the Canterbury is comfortable with his job hauling icebergs from the rings of Saturn back to the fifty million customers now living in the asteroid belt. In the century and a half since it was settled, the Belters, long and lean by Martian or Earth standards, have developed their own culture and ethos, but still Holden is comfortable among them. But his comfort disappears when his ship gets a distress call that turns out to be bait for an ambush. What Holden does in the aftermath ignites an interplanetary war.

Part military science fiction, part detective story with a touch of horror the authors (Cory is the joint pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) have stuffed Leviathan Wakes full of action, adventure, delightfully inventive plot twists and interesting characters. The nearly 600 page tome seemed to speed by as I read it and left me in eager anticipation of the next installment of the saga.

D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

D'Aulaires' book of Norse myths / by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire ; preface by Michael Chabon. – New York : New York Review of Books, [2005], c1967.
xiii, 154 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 31 cm.
ISBN: 9781590171257
Includes index
Originally published as Norse Gods and Giants. Garden City : Doubleday, 1967.

1. Giants – Mythology. 2. Gods, Norse. 3. Mythology, Norse.

293.13

The creation of the world, Frost Giants, and Gods as recorded by the Icelandic eddas is presented by the D'Aulaires in color filled large format lithographs and clear English prose. Originally published as Norse Gods and Giants, short introductions of the Aesir Gods and the Jotun follow the creation story. These in turn are followed by the adventures of Loki and Thor, and then the final battle of Ragnarokk. A helpful index that includes a pronunciation guide is appended.

The Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda / translated with an introduction and explanatory notes by Lee M. Hollander.— 2d ed., revised. -- Austin : University of Texas Press, [1962]
xxix, 343 p. 24 cm.
Contains pronunciation guide, glossary, index and list of names
Selected Bibliography: p. 327-328
LCCN: 61-10045
ISBN: 0292764995 (paperback)

1. Edda Sæmundar --Translations into English. 2. Eddas --Translations into English. 3. Mythology, Norse – Poetry. 4. Nibelungen --Romances. 5. Old Norse poetry --Translations into English. 6. Sagas --Translations into English. 7. Siegfried (Legendary character) --Romances.

839.61

I was fortunate to have recently read the D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths before I tackled this more challenging read, which the D'Aulaires had cited as their source. The University of Texas, where he was Professor of Germanic Languages, in 1962, published Professor Hollander’s revised translation. The Edda, literally grandmother in Old Norse, is a collection of poems by different poets arranged to tell the stories of the Norse gods and heroes. “Collected by an unidentified Icelander, probably during the twelfth or thirteen century, The Poetic Edda was rediscovered in the seventeenth century by Danish scholars.” In order to retain as much of the poetry of the original, much of which comes from alteration, Hollander made a point of using as many Germanic derived words as he could in his translation. Many of the words he chose did not come from modern English. For example, hight instead of named, eke instead of also, rede instead of counsel, etc. A glossary is included as an appendix, but of the above three examples, only the first is included. While this adds to the authentic sound, there is a trade-off in comprehension. I found myself alternating back and forth between the text, the footnotes and an online edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Even so, it’s a very lively collection of poems, full of battles, revenge, gods, giants, and even a talking dragon. Part of the verve comes from Hollander himself who is frank and forthright in his opinions. For example part of his introduction to the sequence “The Plaint of Oddrun,” includes his opinion that, “Aesthetically, too, the poem is inferior. Though facile, it is full of inconsistencies and irrelevancies, due in this instance, not only to a problematic and utterly disordered text, but also to the mediocrity of the poet."

The Children of Odin

The children of Odin : the book of northern myths / by Padraic Colum ; illustrated by Willy Pogany. – New York : Collier, 1984, c1920.
271 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
ISBN: 0027228908

1. Mythology, Norse. 2. Volsunga saga. English. 3. Nibelungen.

293.13

Norse mythology retold as a very satisfying prose narrative by Irish writer Colum. It has remained a favorite since its first publication in 1920. Like the D'Aulaires, he draws upon the material of the Eddas with the addition of the heroic tales of Sigurd, the Volsungs, the Nibelung, and their cursed treasure.

Who Fears Death

Who fears death / Nnedi Okorafor. – New York : DAW Books, [2010]

386 p. ; 24 cm.

ISBN: 9780756406172

1. Africa – Fiction. 2. Fantasy fiction. 3. Feminist fiction. 4. Genocide --Fiction. 5. Magic --Fiction. 6. Racially mixed people -- Africa --Fiction.

813.6

In the future, in an Africa that is almost entirely desert, angry and determined Onyesonwu (her name means Who fears death?) demands that the village sorcerer Aro teach her the Great Mystic Points. He refuses because she is a girl. She is also Ewu, a racially mixed child, a child of weaponized rape. Her biological father was part of the army that burned her mother’s village to the ground. He was also a powerful evil sorcerer. In addition to her unusual skin color, Onyesonwu has also inherited his magical power. Using the raw power of her untrained magic she forces Aro to take her as a student. She will use her magic, her anger and her determination to stop the genocide and save her people.

William Shakespeare's King Lear : a graphic novel

William Shakespeare's King Lear : a graphic novel / by Gareth Hinds. – Cambridge : Thecomic.Com 2007.
122 p. : col. ill. ; 28 cm.
ISBN: 9781893131064
1st ed.

1. Graphic novels. 2. Lear, King (Legendary character) -- Comic books, strips, etc. I. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. King Lear. II. William Shakespeare's King Lear. III. King Lear.

741.5973

This is the most successful adaptation of Shakespeare to the graphic medium that I have read. Wisely, Hinds keeps large parts of the original dialog so the poetry and the passion of the play are undiluted. In supplementary notes at the end of the text he explains his choices.

To the text he has added superlative composition. Dialog is presented in a script typeface of his own design that’s clear to read and complementary to the composition. For most of the work he either adapts or abandons the traditional comic panels. He uses line—sometimes a dotted line to indicate the path of a character across the page—to move readers’ eyes through the story. So the most emotionally charged scenes brilliantly swirl and hurl across the page. Towards the end of the book watercolor washed illustrations contrast with adjacent sharply inked lines to highlight the King and Cordelia, at first in his joy at being found by her and reconciled and then in his overwhelming grief at her death.

Hinds also uses the graphic medium to produce an effect that would not be possible in a stage production, a panorama. The first use is static. Lear’s castle is shown in the dark and from a distance on page 11 to close the first scene. More action is introduced on page 23 the reader sees Edmund at first conferring with Curan on the center left of the page and then below laying in wait to deceive his brother who is approaching from a dark path on the right side of the page, all this done in a single dark blue and green full page panel. But the more engaging use of the effect begins on page 32 Gloucester is pleading with Cornwall not to put Kent in the stocks in a panel on the upper left, immediately to the right in a circular panel Cornwall proceeds to do so anyhow. This panel is outlined in a large red circled connected to the same action in smaller scale in the large, more than half page panel below as Edgar emerges from the hole high in the tree in which he has been hiding and views the scene from afar. In the following full page to the right he strips himself down against a plain white background to transform himself into mad Tom. On the next page (again a full-page panel) he slips over the wall to escape as Lear and his company approach in the background. On page 38 the swirling winds of the upcoming storm dominate the page as Edgar creeps away and Cornwall and Regan approach to confront the enraged Lear. Nine pages later, tiny white outlines of Lear, Kent and the Fool stand beneath the lighting flash and a great “KRAKOOOM!” of thunder. A dramatic double page spread of the clash of the British and French armies sweep across pages 94-95, a scene that necessarily happens off stage in the play.

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman / Laurence Sterne ; read by Anton Lesser.—Franklin : Naxos Audio Books 2009
15 sound discs (19 hr., 2 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in. + 32 p. booklet ; ill.
ISBN: 9789626349670

1. Autobiography--Authorship--Fiction. 2. English wit and humor. 3. Experimental fiction. 4. Parent and child--Fiction. 5. Stream of consciousness fiction.

823.6

This is a very silly book. It’s strewn full of humor from wordplay, typographical shenanigans, and mock scholarship to slapstick and bawdy ****** innuendo. There are a few random bits of Tristram’s life and opinions scattered randomly in the book—and it is a very random book—although Tristram himself is a very minor character being at the same time an omnipresent and garrulous narrator. He provides mountains of opinion from his father, Walter whose opinions are strong, scholarly, forcefully put, and occasionally contradictory, and from his humble and effacing Uncle Toby (especially when he gets on his HOBBY-HORSE, military fortifications!) and from their neighbors Dr. Slop and The Reverend Mr. Yorick, who stop by to offer their varied learned scientific and theological advises. There is also a chapter on mustaches, a chapter on noses—quite a lot about noses—poor Tristram doesn’t have much of one due to Dr. Slop’s sloppy use of the forceps at birth—and a chapter on chapters.

Lesser's vocal characterizations are excellent. The reader, director, and producers are also to be congratulated on their skillful and ability to turn *********, omissions, and squiggly lines and other typographical jokes into a properly silly aural experience.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Hereville : how Mirka got her sword / Barry Deutsch ; colors by Jake Richmond.-- New York : Amulet Books, c2010.
137 p. : chiefly col. ill. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 9780810984226 (hbk.)
Author’s note: I drew Hereville on my computer using Photoshop and a Cintique tablet, which is a kind of interactive pen-on-screen tool. Jake the colorist, also used Photoshop to digitally add color to my black-and-white artwork.”

1. Jewish girls -- Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Fantasy comic books, strips, etc. 3. Jews -- Conduct of life -- Comic books, strips, etc. 4. Witches -- Comic books, strips, etc. 5. Trolls -- Comic books, strips, etc. 6. Graphic novels.

741.5973

One day on her way to school Mirka Hirschberg discovers a house that she’s never seen before in her town of Hereville and in the yard of this house is a woman pruning a tree while floating ten feet off the ground. Mirka plucks one of the enormous grapes hanging on the fence of the house, and she’s set upon by a monster. The monster turns out to be a pig, but since Hereville is town inhabited only by Orthodox Jews, Mirka has never seen one, and doesn’t know what to call it until enlightened by her more worldly step-sister. Since Mirka’s ambition in life is to be a dragon slayer, she vows that she’s not going to be defeated by a pig. But when she sets a trap for the pig, she ends up having to battle a troll!

Zita the Spacegirl: Book 1

Zita the spacegirl : Book 1 : Far from home / by Ben Hatke.-- New York : First Second, c2010.
182 p. : col. ill.; 22 cm.
ISBN: 9781596434462 (pbk.)

1. Graphic novels. 2. Human-alien encounters – Comic books, strips, etc. 3. Science fiction comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

At the bottom of a fresh meteor crater Zita and her friend Joseph discover a strange artifact. In its center is a large red button. Zita thinks she should push it. Joseph begs her not to, so, of course, she does. A large crack appears in reality, black tentacles reach out and drag Joseph in. Then it snaps shut. Zita gathers her courage, presses the button again, and dives in after him. Like Dorothy’s trip to Oz, Zita finds herself in a land beyond belief filled with strange creatures. But it’s also a doomed world, destined to be struck by an asteroid in three days. Can Zita find Joseph, rescue him, and escape before the asteroid strikes? She can, but she’ll need a little help from her friends.

Every Bone Tells a Story

Every bone tells a story : hominin discoveries, deductions, and debates / Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw. -- Watertown: Charlesbridge, c2010.
185 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 9781580891646

1. Archaeologists – Biography. 2. Excavations (Archaeology). 3. Fossil hominids. 4. Human remains (Archaeology). 5. Prehistoric peoples.

930.1

The fossilized skeleton of one of our prehistoric ancestors and the actual bones of two others and the mummy of a fourth (Turkana Boy, Lapedo Child, Kennewick Man, and Iceman, respectively) do tell stories, and the authors have made them very lively stories. As their subtitle promises the narratives start with the discovery by archaeologists, a construction crew, or casual passers-by and then the excitement when the find is publicized. Then the deductions start, what can we learn from their teeth and DNA, and what do the remains tell us about life before we began to record it? When and how did we begin to use language? How did agriculture spread? How did humans spread out from Africa across the globe? Then when tentative answers are put forth the fury of the debate begins, with scientists sometimes taking on their opponents as if they were preparing for a professional wrestling match. All and all this is an accurate, thought provoking and colorful account complete with bibliographies, index, web directories, and color photography.

Behemoth

Behemoth / Scott Westerfeld ; read by Alan Cumming.-- [New York] : Simon and Schuster Audio, p2010.
8 sound discs (9 hr., 30 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
Unabridged
Compact discs
ISBN: 9781442334106

1. Alternative histories (Fiction) 2. Genetic engineering – Fiction. 3. Imaginary wars and battles – Fiction. 4. Princes – Fiction. 5. Science fiction. 6. Steampunk fiction. 7. War stories.

813.54

On August 10, 1914 two German warships the Görban and the Breslau slip into the Dardanelles steaming for Istanbul to evade the British Navy and with the hope of bringing the Ottoman Empire into the Great War on their side. In this second volume of Scott Westerfeld alternative steampunk history of the war, the Germans have been pursued and attacked not only by the British Navy, but also by the flagship of its Air Service, the Leviathan, an enormous airship genetically engineered from a whale and several other species by Darwinist scientists. Aboard are: Deryn Sharp, a fierce Scots lass disguised as a boy and her unlikely new friend Prince Alek, the heir to the Austo-Hungarian Empire. Within days both are running loose in the Ottoman capital. While Deryn leads a secret sabotage mission, Alek intrigues with local revolutionaries in this fantastic adventure tale of what might have been. Cumming skillfully switches accents from Scots to English to German adding verisimilitude while keeping up the fast pace of the action.

Manhood for Amateurs

Manhood for amateurs : the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father, and son / Michael Chabon.— New York : Harper Audio, 2009.
7 sound discs (8 hr.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
ISBN: 9780061842375
Contents: The losers’ club – William and I – The cut – D.A.R.E. – The wilderness of childhood – Hypocritical theory – The spleandors of crap – The hand on my shoulder – The story of our story – the ghost of Irene Adler – The heartbreak kid – A gift – Faking it – Art of the cake – On Canseco – I feel good about my murse – Burning women – Verging – Fever – Looking for trouble – A woman of valor – Like, cosmic – Subterranean – XO9 – Sky and telescope – Shurefire lines – Cosmodemonic – Boyland – A textbook father – The omega glory – Getting out – Radio silence – Normal time – Xmas – The amateur family – Daughter of the Commandment.
Unabridged
Read by the author

1. American essays--21st century. 2. Authors, American – Biography. 3. Chabon, Michael -- Family. 4. Chabon, Michael -- Marriage. 5. Fatherhood -- United States. 6. Fathers -- United States – Biography. 7. Husbands -- United States -- Biography. 8. Marriage -- United States. 9. Masculinity -- United States. 10. Men -- United States – Biography. 11. Sons -- United States -- Biography.

814.54

Chabon uses his personal experiences to essay into various topics of masculinity and family. Divorce, his and his parents, feelings of inadequacy, love and relationships, honesty, growing up as a child in the 1970s, the joys of being a geek, being honest with your children about drug use. As in his novels, he manages to tie many seemingly unrelated topics together to produce sparkling literate prose.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and prejudice / by Jane Austen ; with a preface by George Saintsbury and illustrations by Hugh Thomson. – Mineola : Dover Publications, 2005.
xxvii, 476 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN: 9780486440910
“This Dover ed. is an unabridged republication of the work originally published in 1894 by George Allen.”

1. Courtship -- Fiction. 2. Domestic fiction. 3. England -- Fiction. 4. Love stories. 5. Sisters -- Fiction. 6. Social classes -- Fiction. 7. Young women -- Fiction.

823.7

When Mr. Bingley, a “young man of large fortune from the north of England,” buys a house in town, Mrs. Bennet is in a frenzy to get her husband to make a social call on their new neighbor. She wants the Bennets to get there before other families with marriageable young daughters, after all, the Bennets have five in need of being married off! So begins this witty description of leisurely paced domestic scheming that serves as the backdrop for the courtship of the clever and self-assured Elizabeth Bennet by Mr. Bingley’s friend, the proud and aristocratic Fitzwilliam Darcy. And while the reader is aware of Mr. Darcy’s infatuation early in the novel, it takes the heroine completely by surprise half-way through the book. This masterpiece of romantic comedy with its precisely portrayed characters is the template and measure for all the Regency Romances of today.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A sick day for Amos McGee / written by Philip C. Stead ; illustrated by Erin E. Stead. -- New York : Roaring Brook, 2010.
[32] p. : ill. ; 23 x 25 cm.
ISBN: 9781596434028
"A Neal Porter book."
Caldecott Medal, 2011

1. Zoo animals – Fiction. 2. Zoo keepers – Fiction.


813.6

Amos McGee gets up early every day to catch the six o’clock bus to work at the zoo. Once at work he made his rounds to visit his good friends, and spend time playing with them. So, one day when he’s feeling sick and has to stay home, his friends take the bus out to spend time with him.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo / by Alexandre Dumas ; read by John Lee.—[Ashland] : Blackstone Audio, 2008
1 WMA sound file (674649 KB) (46 hr., 56 min.)
Unabridged
Translation of: Comte de Monte-Cristo
First published in French 1844-1846
Use on Windows® computers running OverDrive Media Console.
ISBN: 9781433247958

1. Adventure stories. 2. Europe--History--1789-1900--Fiction. 3. Historical fiction. 4. Revenge – Fiction.

843.7

Edmond Dantès, falsely imprisoned for life on a political charge, escapes after fourteen years, and uncovers a treasure so fabulous that it might have come right out of the Arabian Nights. Rich and free, acting anonymously, he enriches his old friends, and then cries, "Farewell kindness, humanity, and gratitude! Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart! I have been heaven's substitute to recompense the good—now the god of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!"