Manga Bookshelf

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Archives for December 2007

Holiday ramble

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Happy holidays! I hope you’re all enjoying yours, however you choose to spend them. It’s been a bit of a strange holiday season for me, I admit. This is usually my favorite time of year, but everything has had a bit of a damper on it this time around. This year has been like that overall, I suppose, but I’m still surprised to find myself with anything even approaching the holiday blues. It is very unlike me. I hope this year remains an anomaly, as I don’t especially wish to repeat it. I did enjoy time with family, which was a true pleasure.

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The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey: B-

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From the back cover:
When they found the stranger stabbed to death in the queue outside the theatre, it was his complete lack of identity which struck everyone as very odd. The labels on his clothes were missing and nobody came forward to claim him. Inspector Grant of the CID has no choice but to travel deep into the theatrical world in his efforts to build up a picture of the nameless man. As the picture builds, Grant must cast his net ever wider as the dead man and the murderer slowly give up their secrets.

Review:
Luck and fingerprints. That’s how Grant seemed to operate. Oh, and much theorizing in advance of the facts with a dash of foreigner-bashing thrown in for good measure.

As the case progressed along by a series of coincidences, I was initially annoyed; it really didn’t make for much of a story. Grant had no clue there was a witness until one showed up to talk to him. And then he just so happened to run into a man fitting the description given by the witness while walking down a London street one evening. There wasn’t much delving into character.

By the end, though, it seemed more like Tey was doing this on purpose to thwart the image of the omniscient detective so prevalent in crime literature of this period. Many, if not most, of Grant’s hunches and assumptions were proven incorrect. He failed to think of things that could have significant bearing upon the case. In fact, he did not actually solve it, though there is closure on the point. For the novelty of that alone, even if the mystery itself wasn’t that great, I enjoyed the book.

I’ll keep running, even barefooted, because I can’t give this up.

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The holidays are quickly approaching, and everything is madness, both in my professional and personal life. Still, we’ve found time for some reading/viewing, most of which has been Kino’s Journey (Kino no Tabi). I wrote a little bit about this the other day, but like most things I love, I can’t seem to stop talking about it.

I have fallen for this series hard, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, while most of my favorite manga and anime characters are men/boys, the protagonist of Kino no Tabi is a …

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“the world is not beautiful, therefore it is.”

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It’s been a while since I’ve written here, primarily due to stress and illness, both of which are still with me. Tonight I am snuggled under and electric blanket with my pup at my feet, and as usual, these things make me want to talk about manga. Actually anime, tonight, I guess. Heavy cold and flu medicine have made reading difficult, though I am still working my way through the Bleach manga, and have re-read Fullmetal Alchemist 13 & 14 in anticipation of the English release of volume 15, which should be sometime this month, I think.

Speaking of Fullmetal Alchemist, I must take this opportunity to tell you all that my workplace Secret Santa (who today was revealed to be our creative director’s assistant, Chelsey) has outdone every Secret Santa in the history of time by making me an Elric Brothers shrinky-dink keychain. I repeat, an Elric Brothers shrinky-dink keychain. That’s right, she drew Edward and Alphonse Elric on a shrinky-dink, baked it, ran a key ring through it, and gave it to me for Christmas. I spent much of this afternoon admiring it, and now my coworkers may believe I am insane. I will attempt to blame this on the illness.

Anyway. Continuing. Not even illness can stop the consumption of anime, so that’s what I’ll talk about tonight. …

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Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George: A

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From the back cover:
The career of playwright Joy Sinclair comes to an abrupt end on an isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands when someone drives an eighteen-inch dirk through her neck. Called upon to investigate the case in a country where they have virtually no authority, aristocratic Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and his partner, Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, grapple for both a motive and a murderer.

Emotions run deep in this highly charged drama, for the list of suspects soon includes Britain’s foremost actress, its most successful theatrical producer, and the woman Lynley loves. He and Havers must tread carefully through the complicated terrain of human relationships, while they work to solve a case rooted in the darkest corners of the past and the unexplored regions of the human heart.

Review:
Although I thought the mystery here was better than in the first novel in the series, I still found it to be less interesting than the developing relationship between Lynley and Havers. Payment in Blood was set fifteen months after the events in the first book, and found Lynley and Havers still working together, but not on the same page regarding the partnership. Lynley, in fact, shuddered at the idea of its being permanent, while Havers soon demonstrated that, though he irritated her immensely, she felt a great deal of loyalty to him and would fight to protect him.

I wondered that Lynley did not recuse himself from this case when he found that one of his close friends (he didn’t realize yet that he loved her) was technically a suspect, but the tense conversations he and Helen shared were so riveting that I didn’t mind very much. The resultant jealousy Lynley experienced on finding her there with another man led him to twist facts to suit his conviction that her lover was the murderer. Feeling her superior to be on the wrong track, and desirous of protecting his job and reputation, Havers began her own secret investigation into other areas of the mystery, and eventually Lynley’s friends arrayed against him to confront him about the single-mindedness of his pursuit. All of this was excellent.

The mystery itself was pretty good and featured a more defined cast of suspects than the previous book. The conclusion was exciting, surprising, and emotionally satisfying. And really—who could ask for more than that?

California Demon by Julie Kenner: B

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From the back cover:
Welcome to San Diablo—the perfect place to raise a couple of kids and a lot of Hell, especially if you’re Kate Connor, retired demon hunter. Now, after fourteen years as a suburban housewife, raising two kids, and supporting her husband’s political ambitions, she’s rejoined the workforce… well, secretly, at least. Between fending off demon attacks, trying to figure out why the mysterious new teacher at the high school seems so strangely familiar, and keeping a watchful eye on her daughter’s growing infatuation with a surfer dude, Kate is the busiest—and most dangerous—soccer mom on the block.

Review:
This was a marked improvement over the first book in the series. The book started slowly, with most of the first half dealing with errands and other family issues and the demon stuff feeling like an afterthought. The action eventually picked up, but the plot never transcended its exceedingly flimsy state. However, this time it actually brought up all sorts of things that affected Kate personally, so I didn’t mind all that much.

Kate was still a rather bland protagonist, but I liked the major personal dilemma she had to face in this book, and also the interactions she had with her daughter. The introduction of rogue demon hunter, David Long, brought a lot to the story, and I also appreciated the continuity regarding the failing marriage of Kate’s best friend.

These books are still totally fluff, but they’re sometimes surprisingly thoughtful regarding how Kate’s first marriage still continues to cast its shadow over her life. I am now officially interested to see what happens next.