I am here! I have been working too much (my life story), drinking about the right amount of coffee, and reading heavily without writing about reading. Writing about what I’ve read helps me process my thoughts and is an important step for me, whether or not I post about my writing here…
My reading (and viewing) since my last post includes:
Books
Starter Villain by Scalzi
Redshirts by Scalzi
The Final Architecture: Shards of Earth, Eyes of the Void, and Lords of Uncreation by Tchaikovsky
Hyperion by Simmons
There is No Anti-Memetics Division by qntm
The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin
Bad Blood by Carreyrou
The Future by Alderman
Murderbot Diaries: Platform Decay [#8] by Wells
Seasons of Glass and Iron by El-Mohtar
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Chambers
The Fox Wife by Choo (an absolute favorite)
Drift Magazine volume 9: Bali by its editors
Ancillary Justice by Leckie
Manga/Manhwa
The Spark in Your Eyes
The Summer Hikaru Died (continued)
Purple Hyacinth
The Heavenly Demon Wants a Quiet Life
The Grand Duke’s Bride is a Warrior from Hell
The Archmage Becomes the Swordmaster’s Youngest Daughter
How About a Cosmic Horror
Graphic Novels
She Eats the Night
Monstress (volumes 1-3 with more coming)(my favorite current thing!)
Film / Television
Slow Horses
The Gorge
Murderbot (the tv series)
Prey
Andor S1
Alien Earth
Ballerina
Sinners
Tron: Ares
Bullet Train
I’m working on other projects, but plan to return here to write again. Truly. But not promptly.
The Summer Hikaru Died, Chapters 32 – 33 by Mokumokuren published in English by Yen Press 2024 – 2025 (ongoing)
These volumes are building tension VERY SUCCESSFULLY.
Not only is the fabric of reality pocked with holes through which misfortunes arrive in the human world and boys’ home region, but their friend Maki is connected through family traditions to the Other Side, and is likely to be dragged over into it (which is fatal) if Yoshiki and Hikaru don’t intervene.
Hikaru’s intervention plan is… risky. And low tech! And this is all I want to say until the story reaches some safe-to-discuss milestone.
Great storytelling and creepy vibes continue – Mokumokuren is doing a superb job in pacing these episodes.
Taming the Marquess by Ire, KRFFR, and gol_G published by Webtoon (3 seasons, 92 chapters plus epilogues – complete) 2022 – 2024
Laranora Ador, the only daughter of an unfashionable family of blacksmith-merchant-nobles, decides to disrupt an auction where a young child is being sold. After wreaking havoc, she takes the strange little boy she rescued home. Unbeknownst to her, this child is a magically disguised man there to disrupt the sale from the inside and go on a lawful murder spree… but he can’t resist milk, cookies, and coddling once he realizes that his rescuer isn’t some kind of creep. Rather than revealing himself as a notorious mage known for MASS MURDERING AN ENTIRE KINGDOM, Eskal plays along – for months. And, instead of doing any mass murdering, he appears to die while saving dear Laranora and her household from an attack by a rival kingdom while they are unconscious.
A year later, when things aren’t looking great for the Ador family, a still-traumatized Laranora decides she must marry well to save her family’s political fortunes, and somehow winds up dealing with the mysterious & terrifying murder mage – a grown man who looks JUST LIKE Eskal, and also happens to be named Eskal. What are the odds?
This comic features: women who like to hammer, sibling rivalries, blue fire, magic-eating butterflies, an ominous child, dwarves in mountains, greedy emperors who like to murder families, auctions, dragons, curses, deadly side effects from using too much magic, fashion fads in armor, knights who complain about having to work, secrets, zealous heteronormativity, men with long hair getting framed in a manner that leads to multi-generational-hatred, and swords that WON’T STOP TALKING.
Consistent with this type of comic, both Laranora and Eskal have histories of trauma, which are obstacles to their relationship(s). Despite it all, things work out for them in the traditionally conservative, heteronormative way typical of these manhwa stories. (That’s not a spoiler for these comics – even the “mature” stories that center sex result in marriage and kids!)
Recommended if you like: relentlessly optimistic heroines who are good with hammers, talking swords, and murderous blondes with teal eyes. (You can parse this sentence in more than one way and the meanings all apply.)
This is a collection of contemporary stories, inspired by traditional Japanese ghost stories. In each story, someone who is dead (or someone connected to the dead) gets a new identity, or a new job, or a new chance to tell their favorite relative not to make the same mistakes they did while also criticizing their apartments.
Why haunt a well when you can be a small business owner? Why not report a fire if it will bring your true love out of the monastery… oh, wait, that one has consequences – don’t do that. Why not pretend to be a human wife, even though the expectations of human wives make absolutely no sense (in general, and also to you as a fox spirit)?
These are fun stories, and one of them (about a ghost helping out single moms) even got me all misty-eyed. The audiobook is well performed and enjoyable to listen to (forgive the annoying ghost aunt – not all ghosts complain as much as she does!), and notes at the end describe the traditional tales that inspired them.
I enjoyed these stories and the clever character-based connections between them, very much.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi audiobook published by Audible (8 hours, 2 minutes) and narrated by Will Wheaton (!) 2022
John Scalzi had fun writing this book (you can tell), and Will Wheaton may have had EVEN MORE FUN performing it!
Jamie is desperate as the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, after having been laid off by his annoying dude-bro boss at a food delivery startup. As he scrapes by delivering food with yet another corporate restructuring hanging over his head, an acquaintance offers him a lifeline: a job at an “animal rights organization.”
A job that pays very well.
That will take him off into “the field” for long periods of time.
One that will wire money back to his roommates. One that requires shots for conditions that might not even be real. Wait, what?
Jamie is reluctant to believe that “the field” is located on an alternate version of earth, in a universe where earth developed differently, and came to be dominated by highly radioactive kaiju. Who can come over to OUR earth when certain nuclear events occur, which led to real events that inspired our Godzilla films. And where Jamie can support an international team of scientists while they try not to be killed by the local flora and fauna.
Radiation! Kaiju battles! Airships! Kaiju babies! Communication outages! Monster-filled GOO!
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t specify the arc of Jamie’s adventures, but it is a good time. There is something deeply satisfying about hearing Will Wheaton shout sarcastic dialog and joyous profanity. Scalzi includes many old geek references in this book, so many that I worried that I should stop saying that certain phrases would make good band names. (Editor’s note: The younger people I work with are unaware of this geek tradition, so I’ll keep doing it until they groan.)
This book is fun. Lighthearted, profanity-punctuated fun. I recommend it highly.
This horror story has become so harrowing that the publisher is releasing chapter 31 in multiple parts, each one slightly more intense than the last!
Covers of The Summer Hikaru Died Chapter 31.1, 31.2, and 31.3
The Summer Hikaru Died, Chapter 31 (so far) by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press 2024
I don’t know how many parts there will be to this chapter. Is releasing them in parts supposed to ease the shock?Do doctors not recommend that we read all three at once? I don’t know what to think…
But: yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes. The Houka Festival is creepy. The effigies are creepy.
The line, “So, what did they use before dolls?” is met with a creepy, too-long silence.
The idea that everyone traditionally knew there were holes in the fabric of reality and that it was up to children to go through to the other side to patch them is creeeeeeeeepyyyyyyy….
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press (ongoing, this is about Chapters 27 – 30) 2024 – present
My favorite horror series about body-part-collecting-beings from ‘the other side’ continues! The story is well-paced, and builds upon earlier revelations. As noted earlier, do not read these out of order! And don’t read further if you haven’t started the series.
Chapter 27: Yoshiki and new Hikaru hear a novel explanation of what’s happening in their town from the stranger in sunglasses, who asks new Hikaru to try to fix the rift between worlds. Yoshiki wrestles with his feelings for new Hikaru. The sky has weird lines in it. Also: there is a very attractive drawing of pancakes.
Chapter 28: Kurebayashi rejoins the boys. This chapter contains the creepiest social media post EVAH, posted by a kid who is OVER IT. (I respect his impatience with ghosts!)
Chapter 29: New Hikaru shows off some of his cleansing powers at a classmate’s house in Ashidori, a village where they may have something to fix. That classmate’s occult-obsessed brother recommends an upcoming festival.
Chapter 30: The Houku Festival is cheerful, aside from the creepy little dolls people make as an offering. Asako feels like she isn’t helping to protect the village, so she goes off on her own (!) to a forlorn, abandoned house (!!) that has sounds coming out of it (!!!). (GIRL – nooo!)
There is something that moves the story forward in every chapter – this tight pacing is fantastic. (You’ve read me complaining about the many manhwa stories that veer off onto tangents about agriculture… This has the most agricultural setting of any story I’ve read, yet Mokumokuren STAYS. ON. THEME.) The way Yoshiki wrestles with his attachment to new Hikaru feels authentic. The increasing creepiness and limited timeline for preventing something awful from happening build tension well. I continue to love this series!
This story is 92 chapters of revenge, self-denying-relationship-dynamics, and a fear that a loving couple has no future because of flaws within each of their characters.
I endorsed this comic at chapter 71, and I endorse it still. It is suspenseful all the way through!
Book (Manhwa): I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog by CMJM, Jagae, Jkyum – Books and Coffee
I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog by CMJM, Jagae, Jkyumpublished by Tappytoon (71 chapters, in season 3, ongoing)2022 (?) – present
I’ve already described it, but can add that devoting one’s second-chance at life solely to revenge is not sensible. Also, self-loathing about the decisions one makes to have revenge can sabotage a relationship even more than stealing and mutilating a body together does. (Does this sound like a lesson that applies to you? If so, let’s NOT hang out!)
Beyond avoiding self-loathing, the story suggests that honesty, open communication, avoiding saddling your love with army-borrowing-related-debt, and perhaps even admitting to bearing your loved one’s children rather than hiding in another territory could all improve your love life. This… feels like solid general relationship advice. Fringe, yet accurate. While this story is marked with the “romance” tag of Tappytoon, such stories are usually more upbeat and don’t involve as many years of not speaking to each other or even being in the same region as this story does. (There is some realism in this, however.)
It is suspenseful – a character coming close to using magic to erase their life, inconveniently located cliffs, inconveniently deadly monsters, attempted assassinations, children running away with armies, a man bullying a younger man who may seek to avenge himself later, and the very real risk of a murder breaking a fragile, restored trust continue through the penultimate chapter. (Penultimate: a good name for a fountain pen shop, especially if it is second-to-last on a block.)
I truly enjoyed this violent, suspenseful, revenge-centric fantasy. This is a riveting adventure story of good people doing gory / bad things and suffering for it for many years before admitting their faults and choosing love. I continue to recommend it.
I’m excited to read that Han Kang has won the Nobel for her writing! I’m so delighted that this talented writer has been recognized.
South Korean author Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel prize in literature
Han, whose works include The Vegetarian, was praised for her ‘intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life’
(The article above is one of the most thoughtful articles to come out about her work, how other writers feel about her books, and more.)
The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren published by Yen Press (ongoing, this is about Chapters 22-26) 2024 – present
I learned yesterday that the TSHD Volume 5tankōbon won’t come out until March 2025. But the chapters published in Japan and translated into English already go up to Chapter 30! I am not willing to wait, so I’m buying the available digital chapters individually (from the Apple Books app). I’ll reread the entire series once it is complete.
This horror series is one continuous story (NOT an episodic collection of standalone adventures!). You should start with Chapter 1. I highly recommend this series – it is an impressive, creepy, humid, summer night story of things that go bump in the forest above a cursed village with a debt to repay.
I’m trying not to post spoilers, but rather a map of the series, so I can find parts I want to emphasize to others when I talk them into reading this. :). But you should skip this review if you haven’t started reading.
Chapter 22 begins seconds after Chapter 21’s last slash. Yoshiki tries to save his dearest friend, and then… wakes in the hospital, with his worried mother telling him that the events at the house were all hushed up. Kurebayashi visits and assures Yoshiki of his friend’s… durability. The out of town ‘scholar’ (who resembles Hikaru) reveals to a local that his centuries-old employer has an interest in specific <beings> from the other side of the rift, but won’t disclose his personal agenda.
Chapter 23 continues in the hospital with an astute observation by concerned Kurebayashi. A classmate tells the boys local mines supplied abortifacients to get the village through times of scarcity, which led to the worship of the local mountain god, which also led a decrease in local epidemics?
There is a pencil sketch of Hikaru destabilizing in Chapter 23 that is SUPERB.
Chapter 24 continues that the destabilizing theme, and Yoshiki realizes that he isn’t purely human anymore… A visit to the Indou family shrine reveals what the village’s dire offerings to the mountain god were, and how they have been memorialized by Hikaru’s family. New Hikaru feels pangs of guilt about how original Hikaru’s friends miss him.
Chapter 25 introduces Yoshiki’s father, who was dear friends with Hikaru’s father. He tells Yoshiki exactly how the Indous brought calamity to their village and the curse upon themselves. New Hikaru goes to Kurebayashi while trying to figure out how to save his friend – from himself. And Yoshiki finds a sketch of the thing new Hikaru really is – from Europe in 1519. (Aren’t art books great?!)
Chapter 26 is summer vacation. No, really. The boys get to go to the beach! I love this cover – there is a nice panorama in the issue. It ends with a revelation or trick, it’s too early to say which.
A lovely, non-spooky cover!
I continue to love love love this series. So creepy. Action-packed, but with steady progress as the boys uncover so much dark local history. Their friendship and love for each other – indifferent to the fact that one of them isn’t human – is deep and sweet. The village landscapes, the details in the houses, the chirping of cicadas – it is all so atmospheric. This is a compelling, well executed story!
