Waffle

I read The Book of Taltos during my fourth air trip to the US, some 9 months after buying the book with the intention of reading it during my first. It collects two short fantasy novels by Steven Brust, set on the planet Dragaera and featuring the human mobster Vlad Táltos. I have one other collection of Brust novels, The Book of Athyra, on my to-read list, having got both books on the strength of the first collection, The Book of Jhereg. Maybe it's the headache I had throughout the trip or maybe the very circumstance of reading a book on an airplane makes me less receptive, but I didn't really like Taltos very much. (I've also soured on the comical novels of Christopher Moore after reading them on airplanes).

Brust is rare among fantasy writers in prominently featuring an openly Marxist/Trotskist political dimension to his writing. Unfortunately, in these two novels, the political bits (the sections describing how the theoretically absolute monarchy in which the stories are set is in fact constrained by economical and material factors, the sections describing a proletarian uprising) are about the only memorable bits. While the construction of the plot and setting is outstanding and one or two characters are interesting, there's little that an experienced fantasy reader won't have seen before and rather too much that they will have seen far too often already. On the other hand, the stories get better with recollection, and may benefit from re-reading, especially in more favorable circumstances. So I'm kind of on the fence as far as this book goes.

I've been running a low-cost advertising campaign on Project Wonderful recently, and I'm finding some interesting comics in my referrals as a result:

North World is one that I'd seen before. I'm a sucker for styles like that - an effortless blend of American comic strip and European juvenalia. I also love the concept of sword and sorcery fantasy in a modern setting and with modern dress.

Heliothaumic, on the other hand, mixes contemporary and period settings freely. It has a cute style and looks interesting with a unique approach to figure drawing. I haven't archive-dived it yet, but will do when I've got a little more time.

Curvy is the weirdest of them all and the one that generated the most buzz in a short time. I briefly looked at it when it started, thought "this is interesting" and filed it away for future archive-diving. It appears to update frequently, so I'd better get a move on.

All three to be added to my Belfry account (how about creating public profiles, guys? After 12 years, it's about time you got around to doing that!) and my giant link list.

I discovered not one but two very promising fantasy webcomics today: The Meek, and Lumia's Kingdom.

The Meek has fantastic art and lovely colouring and reminds me a bit of Zander Cannon's The Replacement God. At only six pages into the story, it could go in a lot of different directions, but from the commentary, the creator has thought about the concept for a long time and has put a lot of work into character and concept art prior to starting on the comic proper. That is a good sign.

I instantly liked the title character of Lumia's Kingdom. Her attitude reminds me of Kel's in a lot of ways, including the bit of quick thinking in a crisis. The art is not as pretty as The Meek, but it's more than serviceable.

I'll be following both comics in the next few months, though I'll hold off on putting them on the front page list until I've seen more of their stories unfold.