George Mann

Two rollicking good Twelfth Doctor adventures made all the better, imho, for not having Clara in them.

The first story finds the Doctor attending a rock concert on a space station where he meets Hattie, the band's bass player and his companion for the book. Soon the two of them are trying to solve a murder and uncover the hidden secrets of the station. Story two has the Doctor and Hattie trying to help a family with a house that has suddenly become bigger on the inside...

I enjoyed this one show more much more than I have the previous Twelfth Doctor graphic novels--and not just because it is Clara-free. The first story has the Doctor fighting to protect non-humans from humans, something that isn't seen often enough; the second story, while hardly mind-blowing, is a well told tale with characters who actually do more than sit around and let the Doctor save them. Hattie is an intelligent and thoughtful companion whom I wouldn't mind seeing again. And on top of all that, the art is fantastic. show less

This book continues the really great Inquisition book series by BL.

Astor Sabbathiel, is well known Inquisitor who disappeared while investigating the potential heretics within the ranks of Adaptes Astartes almost hundred of years ago on a war torn planet that became place engulfed in the enormous Chaos infused warp storm.

Suddenly she awakes, a century later, reborn by the mysterious Mechanicum priest Metik on the request of the even more mysterious member of the Inquisition. She gets show more contacted by the cut-off from her old Inquisition conclave - order is simple, Sabbathiel is tasked with investigation of Chaos taint on planet of Hulth.

Inquisition books being spy books are full of subterfuge, plots within the plots, private armies clashing in the night and cloak-and-dagger action where no-one can be trusted and treason is something to always take into account.
Prose is very clear, to the point, and world building is very interesting. I mean it is still W40K universe, with all its grim details, but then we have the world Astor is recuperating on as striking opposite, something more from what you might call more optimistic :) SF universes. Descriptions of monumental buildings (private and governmental) on Hulth have aesthetics and the light in them (I mean description of Bleeth estate is magnificent, you can just feel the sheer epic size of the estate), it is not just darkness and oppression that just reeks from the lower levels of the hive city. And depiction of the source of the corruption ..... man, pure Lovecraftian horror. Even the visit to crypts where the rich are buried was so vivid, amazing. I have to admit I truly like the author's writing style.

Characters are also very good, from Astor's retinue (Bledheim and Metik being the most interesting, at least to me) to various Inquisitors Astor crosses the path with (from Handrel, Mandreth to Sinjan) and to special appearance (won't spoil it but this was oh-boy moment for me :)).

Book ticked all the boxes for me, I truly enjoyed it. I like how BL novels have become solid SF works, and not just in the line of main story arcs (like Horus Heresy). Yes there are action oriented works, some depicting hardships of war in interesting details, but days of pure bolter porn seem to be done (and I have to admit I like these a lot, pulp action stories, but in smaller dosages over time because they tend to overwhelm if consumed en masse) and we get books with lots of interesting characters and settings.

I am warming up to the Inquisition stories. I started with Dark City and Watchers of the Throne series (we need more from these series), then moved to the Horusian wars arc (more action oriented but pretty solid, I liked it a lot), and then got to this book (I truly hope we get more Astor's adventures). I know what people might say - do try Eisenhorn and Ravenor series, these are the pinnacle of Inquisition stories and my answer is, I will :) it is just I tend to start from the middle so I usually visit the established lore books last :) But I do not doubt for a second I will enjoy these too.

Inquisition stories remind me so much of the spy thrillers and even techno-thrillers, where small troubleshooting groups work on solving complex issues and fighting the vile enemy working behind the veil. You have that same tension that is common in all of the W40K story-lines but here you have actual possibility of the life loss because, enhanced or not, Inquisitors and their retinue are what you might call standard-issue humans, and not super-human beings like Astartes or even Imperial Talons. For them very contact against the shadowy enemy of Chaos might be the last one.

Excellent story, highly recommended to fans of action adventure SF, and W40K in particular. show less

For George Mann's sake, I'm glad that I have a tendency to purchase all of the books in a series when I decide to read the first one. He gets my commission, as does my local store. These are both good things. But never have I felt so embarrassed to read a novel since I was a kid first realizing that YA stories no longer held my attention or demanded my suspension of disbelief. And those were the well-constructed stories.

I don't like to write negative reviews of anything at all, so I'll keep show more this short. The Ghost doublet (so far) of "Steampunk" novels is atrocious, trite prose filled with obvious tropes and zero mystery, wonder, or sense of place. I had to force myself to finish Ghosts of Manhattan only because I like to complete the books that I purchase, in a sort of OCD-manner. I'll distill my horrific experience into five points, and leave it there:

1) Mann is British, and is writing about a dystopian New York in the 1920s. Regardless, all of his characters speak in the British idiom, with no attempt whatsoever to establish personalities that have any sense of relevant colloquiality. Amateur mistake or lack of attention, either way it burned the fourth wall straight down.

2) If it were of the Pulp genre, or even a nod thereunto, it would still be a dismal addition. But it's excitedly touted as Steampunk (isn't everything these days?) with the same absence of setting as that of Mann's portrayal of language. Aside from the mention of New York and the occasional boiler-plate dropping of some weak, non-useful Victorian-tech, it might as well have been set anywhere, anytime. Sure, I'm sick to death of the Steampunkian-rapine that has gone on in the past decade. But still, self-igniting cigarettes, police airships above the city, and coal-powered cars alone do not a genre make. Besides, those are really the only three anachronistic tech elements he squeezes into the book, repeatedly and with absolutely no subtlety. I think I read that one of the characters "pulled the ignition tab on his cigarette and watched it flare" no less than five times. It hurts, I tell you.

3) Ghosts of Manhattan is a weak attempt at sandwiching everything that's already been done before together into something that's been left in the fridge long past its sell-by date. It's exactly the Great Gatsby mashed-up with exactly Batman, without any of the style, emotion, mystery, or excitement of either. The characters aren't really tortured or even human - they're cardboard cutouts of grim detectives, playboy millionaires-turned vigilantes, and pure-evil antagonists who are trying to end the world by summoning elder gods from out of space and time. Really.

4) All of the women in this world are glamorous, enticing sirens for the main character's fancy. More like George's fancy.

5) Just add Cthulhu. It's like the Prime Directive in Sci-Fi and Fantasy: never use time-travel to tell your story. So leave the tentacles to those who can really use them. If Steampunk and Batman aren't working, stuffing in some Lovecraft certainly won't make it any better.

Hey, I've still got the second book to go.

I was hoping that I'd be a Mann-eater, but after reading Ghosts of Manhattan, I'm much more of a Mann-hater. show less

A much better foray into the world of Fromsoft goodness in graphic novel form. My opinions regarding the "Lady of the Lanterns" Bloodborne adaptation are utterly irrelevant here unless they are explicitly being used as a comparison.

Let it be said that I'm a sucker for tales of hope. Dark Souls is often described as a depressing series, but I find there is a lot of hope buried in the dreariness, else nobody would be fighting for anything at all. This adaptation captures that, the flickering show more remnants of hope in the midst of sorrow. The world is ending, you see, the immortal flame that keeps all things alive is fading. Yet, against that impenetrable despair, our unlikely heroes rise to the task.

The Willow King extrapolates on the time-honored feeling of a good cooperative playthrough of a Dark Souls DLC, rife with interesting lore and crazy NPCs whose voice acting puts you in the headspace to bash undead skulls. I personally really enjoyed the pacing, how each assistive phantom-style companion had a reason for fighting. Plus, it was nice to see a feminine character be badass in all the ways you expect a Fromsoft woman to be. Yllis of the Cascade, an assassin worshipping a dead goddess, evokes just as much pain and emotion as Bol of the Dream—a madman believing the world is yet living—and Gern of the Forest—the final remnants of a woodland force.

To say nothing of Herad the Unlived, the Unkindled of this story. The Willow King alters a few details about what is an Unkindled, and how it approaches the matter of saving the world. It is a staving off of the inevitable that Herad, a once great soldier turned shameful failure, takes up his sword in death to push back again. His company is four-strong against demons... giant snakes... more giant snakes... It's definitely [un]living up to its inspiration.

As for the art: wow. WOW! The entire graphic novel would only come together if the art was able to keep pace with the story. Vibrant colors are not avoided here, but they are used in just enough moderation, sometimes monochroming an entire scene in just bright gold and black, to keep the story interesting. Dark Souls is typically associated with being very grey with brilliant spots of color—a detail that is managed well here. The way fire is drawn with so much life, or the way that the stark white of Herad's eyes almost seem to burn through the page... Really gorgeous stuff. Loved every second of it.

Oh, and there's a big fuckoff giant at the end that just goes full Jaeger Mech. Herad becoming the beating heart of a towering titan is like... everything I love about monster media. Highly recommend to both non-gamers and Fromsoft fans! show less