Simon Cox scores an equaliser in the third minute of injury time to snatch a draw for high-flying West Brom against QPR…. From BBC News. Full story

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One of the more interesting novels to come across my desk for cataloguing is The Child Thief / Brom. This adult fiction is retelling of Peter Pan, set in New York, and with a very dark gothic feel to it. The author Brom, is better known as an artist (you can find out more about him and his work here), and the novel is littered with his illustrations, including full colour portraits of the main characters.

I will confess to not being a fan of either gothic literature, nor the retelling of other works, especially adult retellings of children’s classics. However this one is a goody. I will be taking it out later to read properly, as it I had to quickly hustle it out of the office. I just started to skim the start and got hooked.

So here is the blurb from the publishers:

“The acclaimed artist Brom brilliantly displays his multiple extraordinary talents in The Child Thief—a spellbinding re-imagining of the beloved Peter Pan story that carries readers through the perilous mist separating our world from the realm of Faerie. As Gregory Maguire did with his New York Times bestselling Wicked novels, Brom takes a classic children’s tale and turns it inside-out, painting a Neverland that, like Maguire’s Oz, is darker, richer, more complex than innocent world J.M. Barrie originally conceived. An ingeniously executed literary feat, illustrated with Brom’s sumptuous artwork, The Child Thief is contemporary fantasy at its finest—casting Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, even Captain Hook and his crew in a breathtaking new light.

With this haunting, provocative, relentlessly thrilling reconsideration of a timeless children’s classic, the acclaimed artist Brom dramatically displays another side of his extraordinary talent. Exploring the stygian blackness that gathers at the root of the beloved Peter Pan legend, he carries readers into a faerieland at once magically wondrous and deeply disturbing”

It is that time of year and I am not really all that good at this, so my lists may be good, they may be shite, or they may be mediocre in their half-assedness. There will be two posts, one for the Best Releases of 2009 and one for the Best Books of 2009, no matter the publish date. Also tacked onto these with be the Disappointments of 2009.

Best of 2009 [Released 2009]

• Memoirs of a Master Forger/How to Make Friends With Demons by William Heaney, aka Graham Joyce.

Memoirs of a Master Forger was released in the UK last year under the pseudonym William Heaney, but it hit US shelves this year from Night Shade Books under the title How to Make Friends With Demons with proper authorial credit going to Graham Joyce, which places it on this list rather than the next. Joyce weaves a brilliant tale of family, friendship, life, and, most importantly, demons. The book is charming, as most of Joyce’s work is, humorous, and suitably dark. I highly recommend it. Review here.

• Lamentation/Canticle by Ken Scholes

Lamentation debuted earlier this year after a little hype to rather mixed reviews. While the book surely had its faults, which I have gone over before in my review of Canticle , it was still a solid debut that left me excited to read more. Canticle managed to improve on all of the negative aspects of Lamentation and left me even more excited about what is to come from the story. Lovely writing, a truly different setting, and a cast of characters that are likable and human, all of this ensures that these two books take a spot on the list, but the revelation that Scholes is crafting a story that works just as well for adults as it does for the teenage crowd, without sacrificing anything, absolutely demands it.

• The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A great main character, fantastic writing, and a very interesting premise, The Angel’s Game was every bit an improvement over Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind. Zafon quickly rose to the top of my favorite authors when I read The Shadow of the Wind earlier this year. His prose is readable and stylish without falling into the trap of purple prose and his ability to render Barcelona into a wonderful, detailed, setting is worthy of any praise it receives. Highly, very highly, recommended.

• The Child Thief by Brom

Far more than just a simple dark retelling of Peter Pan. Barrie’s tale is blended with celtic myth and a touch of modernity to create something that is brimming with imagination and wonder. This is no children’s story though, this foul-mouthed novel is filled with violence, murder, and mayhem. Most of all, it is a story with no clear black and white and several shades of grey. The characters are well-realized, the prose amazingly descriptive and near lyrical, and, of course, there is still the art. Review here.

• Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

Perhaps not the best novel of the year by any means and not the deepest either, but what places Sandman Slim on the list is the sheer fun of it. It is not the sort of book with deep characterization, underlying themes, or angelic prose. Rather, it is exactly the sort of book that equates to a summer blockbuster. Action, violence, explosions, and, of course, heaven and hell. Very close to the most enjoyable book I have read this year, I cannot wait to get my hands on more.

• The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston

Read it at the beginning of the year, back before I started blogging, reviewing, or sharing my thoughts about the books I enjoyed or hated. Please forgive my unstated reasoning for picking this as I cannot remember. However, I did enjoy it, I know that much, and I am a big fan of Huston. If you are a big fan of Huston as well, give it a try. If not, give it a try.

• Finch by Jeff VanderMeer

The third and final book set in the wonderful setting of Ambergris. The prose may feel a bit clipped, but the distraction that it brings quickly disappears as you are sucked into the mystery of the story. VanderMeer does a wonderful job crafting a noir detective story and a better job crafting a dingy and oppressed hell ruled over by the Gray Caps. Review here.

Disappointments of 2009 [Released 2009]

• The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker

I really enjoyed Bakker’s The Prince of Nothing trilogy and was really looking forward to the continuation in The Judging Eye. Unfortunately, the book was a shadow of the quality found in the previous trilogy. The prose, which I enjoyed so much, had been turned into something else entirely… more simplistic, less ornate or roundabout, or however you would like to describe his former work. Further, the spotlight lingered far too long on Esmenet, a character from the prior trilogy that I hated completely, and her brat child with an Oedipus Complex, who is just as bad if not worse. Thankfully there is extremely little spend on our Manipulative Superman, Kellhus, but unfortunately, there is not near enough time spent with Akka and Mimara and their journey, which happen to be the good portions of the novel.

• The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Grossman is a good writer and that is clearly visible throughout the book, but where he may excel in writing, he does not come close with other aspects. The characterization was overall rather poor, with Quentin focused on and the rest of the characters left to float about like dust motes in and out of frame. The pacing was worse, with the majority of novel, that being the beginning half, racing along as though it was being chased by the cops and then crashing into a brick wall for the final half. Though I can appreciate what Grossman tried to do with the story, giving us a more realistic and adult look at such books as Harry Potter, the negatives do too much to take me out of the story and leave me feeling cold towards it. Conflicted and rather poor review here.

OK, so Peter Pan was my first obsession. I read the story as a little girl, watched the Disney film, listened to the story on tape, dreamt about flying away with and being rescued by a charming boy with no fear, who would never grow old. I loved it and continue to love it in all its forms.

Now, the artist Brom has recreated it in The Child Thief. In his characteristic fashion, Brom is lending his own personal touch of horror to the old story. There is no Neverland, no pixie dust, no play-fights, no colorful Captain Hook.

This is a world as dark and dangerous as our own. But also just as fascinating. I’m looking forward to more.

UPDATE, 9/19/2009: I am about halfway through the novel now and it is an interesting take on the Peter Pan story. I admit, however, that it is not entirely what I expected. Brom has taken great pains to show a dichotomy in Peter. He is two things at once: he is aging slowly but he will never reach puberty, not really. So he alternates between being a carefree, playful boy one moment and a cold-blooded killer the next. He has all the capabilities of a man but none of the maturity that goes along with them. All of his dark experiences have been in Avalon, unlikes some of the children that he brings there. Some of those kids were forced to “grow up” early, at least in the light of the things they have gone through. I was expecting a darker, more grown-up Peter, to be honest. This is interesting, like I said, but not really what I expected.

Also, I am contemplating reading the book twice. Once through to just read it and the second time to edit it. Apparently neither Brom nor his editor believe in using commas BEFORE nouns of direct address (he writes: Why Lady, would you do such a thing? instead of Why, Lady, would you do such a thing?). If it were once, then I wouldn’t worry but it’s a constant, annoying occurence. So I am tempted to take a red pen to the novel and then send it back to Brom with a note saying, “You may want to hire me. Obviously, I can be of help.” 

I will let you know when I am done with the book. We’re about to go into battle, both figuratively and literally.

UPDATE, 11/28/2009: OK, I just want to be done with this book. I cannot honestly say that I think it is any good. Not yet. It makes certain characters more pitiable than in the stories we are used to, which is interesting. But then Brom just kills off characters that we have come to enjoy in fell swoop. It’s a bit annoying and I feel like I’m waiting and waiting for certain things to come to fruition. I just want to be done but it’s like I don’t want to read it any more, you know?

I think it’s part and parcel because I expected something very different. The story is different, interesting in parts, but I do not find it engrossing, like The Plucker, unfortunately.

FRUSTRATED, 12/6/2009: I gave up. I tried to finish the book the other night and just couldn’t do it. I think Brom tried to teach his pony too many tricks and its legs just became all tangled and the show was a flop. It’s rare that I can’t bring myself to finish a book – and maybe I’ll go back and try sometime – but, for right now, I just can’t do it. I’m moving on to something else because I’m depressed now.

I was so excited to have the anthology UNBOUND coming out, that I forgot all about another release that I’ve been waiting for.  CHILD THIEF by Brom has hit the shelves this week too.  I read this while it was still in manuscript form, and I loved it.  Brom is already known for his Fantasy artwork, and he has done his own cover (a dream for most authors, right there) and gone on to include artwork on the inside as well, so it’s a real treat.

CHILD THIEF is  a gruesome, manipulative retelling of the Peter Pan story, but it’s not for the kiddies.  I did some searching, and I’ve got a link for you to read some of it online at the Harper site.  CHILD THIEF  (You may have to refresh your page to get it to load right.)

And . . . here is the link to read the first bit of LEY LINE DRIFTER, from the UNBOUND anthology.  Holy Cats!  They put up a chunk!  Enjoy!  –Kim

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

 

 

John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 movie directed by John Carpenter. Starring Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, and Joanna Cassidy.

Tagline: You Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance

Blu-ray

Plot: A story of human colonists on Mars who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts.

Production:

Although Mars has a day/night cycle almost identical in length to Earth’s, most of the movie is set at night. Mars is shown only once in the daytime, in a flashback when a scientist describes how she found and opened a “Pandora’s Box”, unleashing the alien spirits.

Much of the movie was filmed in a New Mexican gypsum mine. The pure white gypsum had to be dyed with thousands of gallons of biodegradable red food dye to recreate the Martian landscape.

Ice Cube, Jason Statham and Clea Duvall

Make Up Department
  Enid Arias … hair stylist
  Howard Berger … special makeup effects artist
  Fred Blau  … makeup artist
  Judy Alexander-Cory  … key hair stylist
  Jake Garber … special makeup effects artist
  James R. Kail … key makeup artist
  Robert Kurtzman … special makeup effects artist
  Gregory Nicotero … special makeup effects artist
  Beverly Jo Pryor … hair stylist: Ice Cube
  Beverly Jo Pryor … makeup artist: Ice Cube
  Ken Wensevic … makeup artist
  Robert Hall … special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
  Margie Latinopoulos … special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Special Effects Department
  Chad Atkinson … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Kamar Bitar … project manager: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Brom … special effects makeup design/illustration: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Chris Cera … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Jason Collins … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Eric Coon … miniature effects
  Gino Crognale … sculptor: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Alex Diaz … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Ante Dugandzic … special effects technician
  Jason Gustafson … special effects foreman
  Steve Hartman … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Chiz Hasegawa … project coordinator: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Beth Hathaway … fabrication/costuming: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Joel Hobbie … special effects technician
  Dave Holoubek … special effects technician
  Garrett Immel … on-set makeup: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Steve Jensen … special effects technician
  Steve King … special effects technician
  Don Lanning … sculptor: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Preston Malott … special effects technician
  Bruce Mitchell … fabrication/costuming: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Greg Nelson … on-set makeup: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Jan Nelson … special effects technician
  David Perteet … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Pollard Jr., James R. … special effects technician
  Randy Pope … special effects technician
  Casey Pritchett … assistant special effects coordinator
  Corey Pritchett … special effects foreman
  Darrell Pritchett … special effects coordinator
  Brian Rae … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Craig Reardon … on-set makeup: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  James Reedy … special effects train supervisor
  Jill Rockow … on-set makeup: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Shannon Shea … sculptor: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc. – Read Shannon Shea’s Interview with GoreMaster HERE
  Robyn Simms … fabrication/costuming: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Shaun Smith … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Jeff Stampfer … special effects technician
  Mario Torres … art department: K.N.B. EFX Group Inc.
  Scott Hastings … special effects technician (uncredited)
  Ian O’Connor … miniature pyro effects (uncredited)
  Alan Tuskes … special makeup effects crew (uncredited)
  Keith O. Wilson … special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects Department
  Gary Anderton … first assistant camera: The Chandler Group
  Tim Angulo … visual effects director of photography: The Chandler Group
  Don Baker … visual effects supervisor: The Chandler Group
  Scott Beverly … mechanical crew chief: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  R. Christopher Biggs … senior compositor: Amalgamated Pixels
  Steven Blakey … digital effects artist
  Catherine Burns … assistant painter: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Matt Chapman … concept artist
  Seth Curlin … model maker: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Joshua Cushner … motion control camera operator: The Chandler Group
  Forest P. Fischer … crew chief: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Derry Frost … head of production: Amalgamated Pixels
  Shannon Blake Gans … miniature effects: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Scott Gordon … digital effects supervisor: ShadowCaster
  Matthew Gratzner … miniature effects: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Patrick Hinkle … model maker: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Bones Howe … concept artist
  Ian Hunter … miniature effects: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Ian Hunter … visual effects storyboard artist
  Ian Hunter … visual effects supervisor: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Leigh-Alexandra Jacob … lead painter: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Gary Kangrga … key grip: The Chandler Group
  Richard Kriegler … digital matte artist
  Ken Locsmandi … senior animator: Amalgamated Pixels
  Ren Messer … visual effects production coordinator: The Chandler Group
  Rob Meyers … senior animator: Amalgamated Pixels
  Bob Monaghan … visual effects
  Michelle Morgan … model maker: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Michael J. Morreale … digital supervisor: Amalgamated Pixels
  Jeffrey Morse … visual effects coordinator
  Jeremy Oddo … senior animator: Amalgamated Pixels
  Michael Pecchia … compositor: Amalgamated Pixels
  Gary Rhodaback … model maker: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Jacqueline Rosado … digital effects coordinator
  David Sanger … visual effects production manager: The Chandler Group
  Tom Shaughnessy … first assistant camera: The Chandler Group
  Mike Shea … visual effects supervisor
  Bob Shepherd … visual effects executive producer: The Chandler Group
  Dave Sherman … visual effects stage manager: The Chandler Group
  Carlos Torres … visual effects chief lighting technician: The Chandler Group
  Mike Uguccioni … digital video technician: The Chandler Group
  James Waterhouse … model maker: Hunter/Gratzner Industries Inc.
  Lance Wilhoite … visual effects supervisor
  Shyam V. Yadav … monkey overlord
  Jim Young … concept artist
  Jordan Albert … assistant visual effects coordinator: Amalgamated Pixels (uncredited)
  Enrico Altmann … visual effects production assistant (uncredited)
  Dennis Fitzsimmons … visual effects (uncredited)
  Bruce Gionet … digital effects artist (uncredited)
  Steve Haworth … digital effects artist (uncredited)
  Derek Ledbetter … visual effects (uncredited)
  Eric Pender … effects animator: Shadow Caster (uncredited)

Movie Poster 27x40

Okay, so this is only tangentially related to librarianship, but who cares?  I did go partly to promote the Tucson Festival of Books, which is library related.  But mostly I went to ask questions about publishing creator owned comics, and to be a ginormous fangirl.  After several weeks of various trials and tribulations, here is a synopsis of San Diego Comic-Con:

So Nick, Heather, and I flew into San Diego on Thursday.  We dropped our stuff at the hotel and went out to eat the only real meal we were likely to get that day.  We looked around the exhibitor booths a little, and I ran to grab a collectors item for a co-worker, only to find that the limited edition, Comic-Con exclusive silver astronaut Snoopy had been held up in manufacturing, and might never become available.  So I got a limited edition astronaut Snoopy tote bag instead.

Nick and I on the plane.

Then my friends and I split up.  I went to a panel on writing with J. Michael Straczynski, and stayed for the panel after about making creator owned comics with Image.  At this point, I decided that the headache that had been bothering me all day was turning into a migraine, and I popped an Imitrex.

Then I went to talk to Brom, the amazing gothic fantasy artist turned writer, about why he should come to the Tucson Festival of Books.  He signed a couple  copies of his first book, The Plucker, for me.  He was very nice.  Not even remotely creepy, despite the author photo in the back of The Plucker. I’m hopeful that he will come.

Me + Brom!

Lucky for me, the Imitrex kicked in just in time for the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog sing-along.  There was a booklet with lyrics, and call backs like Rocky Horror.  During the Bad Horse chorus, we were all supposed to bounce up and down, and the floor started shaking.  Little bit scary.   And I’ll tell you what, knowing the lyrics to Commentary the Musical makes it a lot more interesting.

Heather tries on the paper Dr. Horrible goggles. Why is everything she does so cute?

We all crashed hard in our hotel around 1 am after our 20 hour day, then got up four hours later so that we could rush back to the convention center.  Nick got in line for a portfolio review, while my other friend waited in line with me for tickets to the Coraline signing.  My wonderful friend Heather had graciously agreed to give me her Coraline ticket if she got one, since she wanted to go the Guild panel, which overlapped with the Coraline panel, and she’s not even a fraction of the Neil Gaiman fan that I am.  Like a panicky school of fish, we all hurried outside  as soon as they announced the ticket drawing, and got in line.  I didn’t get a winning ticket, but Heather did.  She quickly passed it off to me and I left triumphant with a wrist band to watch the Coraline panel.  Thank you Heather!!!  A few hours later, I was standing in line with my books and eagerly awaiting my thirty seconds of personal time with Neil Gaiman.  To my surprise, it turned out that the signing also included Terri Hatcher, the brilliant director Henry Selick, and Keith David, the voice of the cat in the movie.  Keith David has an amazing voice, and has a special place in my heart as the voice of Goliath from the cartoon series Gargoyles.

Terri Hatcher, Neil Gaiman, and Henry Selick

Terri Hatcher, Neil Gaiman, Henry Selick, and Keith David.

The horrible thing about the signing was that the crowd control people came out and told us that only one thing could be signed.  One.  The line started freaking out, and I looked through my bag at the books I had brought: two for me, and two for a friend who didn’t make it to Comic-Con.  How could I choose?  Then the crowd control people amended: one signed item and one picture, or two signed items and no picure, just don’t slow down the line!  I breathed a sigh of relief, and chatted with the guy in line in front of me.  Then they passed out a limited edition Coraline card to be signed.  When I got to the head of the line, the woman there told me I had too many items.  I told her the Coraline cast could sign the card, and Neil Gaiman could sign my two books:  Two items.  She said no, that’s too many.  I started to panic.  Then she pointed out to me that the guy in front of me had only one item, and if he was willing, he could get it signed for me.  I thrust my book at him and asked if he would get it signed for me.  And he did, and I wish I knew his name, but he disappeared after the signing!  Thank you sweet pre-med student!  Neil signed my book, and I gave him a flyer and a card for the Tucson Festival of Books.  He gave my card back with his assistant’s email.  It took all my strength and willpower to remain standing and speak mostly coherent words at him.

Next I went to give some more info to Brom about the Festival, and then I met up with my friends and we walked around the exhibitor space for a while.  I got some art books signed by the creepy artist Mark Ryden, who was not very creepy at all, and even had his children with him.

Then we went searching for Jeff Jacques, so I could buy things from his booth and support his comic.

Heather arrived back from the Spartacus panel, and we went to meet R.H. Stavis, Steve DeKnight, and Adam Archer.  Heather was interviewed by Starz about her fangirl opinion on the new show Spartacus.  After that, the plan had been to get in line for the Dollhouse panel two hours before hand, but it turns out the line was three hours long.  That’s right, three hours long.  We were already too late to get in line, and I’m not sure I’m a big enough fangirl to wait in line three hours for any kind of panel that doesn’t come with a signing.

Adam Archer, Steve DeKnight, and R. H. Stavis.

So we went to see Jane Espenson at the Browncoat booth.  Usually, she works with Joss Whedon, and I think she’s a really fantastic writer.  One of the best, very funny.  And very nice.

Jane Espenson + me!

Then Heather got a call from a friend, begging her to go find Peter S. Beagle and get a signed book from him.  Peter S. Beagle, the guy who wrote The Last Unicorn!  We rushed to find his booth,  and I was very excited to meet him and buy several signed books.  I gave him some info about the Tucson Festival of Books too.

Peter S. Beagle... and me!

Then we went on probably our third quest to find Jeff Mariotte and his wonderful wife, Maryelizabeth Hart.  This quest was successful, and very relaxing among all the stress and excitement of the con.

Jeff Mariotte, Nick, Heather, Me, and Maryelizabeth Hart.

Finally, we ended our day by heading upstairs to meet the cast of the Guild, so Heather could give Felicia Day some tiny gaming dice as a fangirl gift.  Felicia and the entire cast are all so sweet and friendly.  Felicia was really excited about her dice, especially when she managed to roll a natural 20.

Felicia Day and Heather

Me + Felica Day!

At last, dinner and bed, just after midnight.  And up again at 6:30 to eat breakfast and head back for our last day of con.  I went to see Terry Moore speak about Strangers in Paradise and his most recent project, Echo.  Both have been nominated for Eisner Awards, and Strangers won.  Apparently the producer of Watchmen just bought the rights  to Echo(not optioned, bought), so this movie might actually happen.  Being the big Terry Moore fan I am, I’m pretty excited.

I got a text from my friend Nick then, who said he’d gotten a call back on his portfolio from Marvel!  He had a review with them in the afternoon.  We went down to the exhibitor hall for a while to buy stuff, then back upstairs to watch Brom’s art presentation.  He had fantastic stories about each piece of artwork in his slideshow, and he has done so much professional work it’s unbelievable.  Then we met up with Heather, and went down to stalk the exhibitor booths some more.  Eventually Heather and Nick went off to the Monster Mash panel, and I went to the writing panel with Marv Wolfman, writer and creator of Teen Titans.   He gave an excellent talk about characterization, and I introduced myself afterwards to ask a few questions.  Then I sneaked in for the end of Ray Bradbury’s author hour.  He’s hilarious, and one of my heroes.

Ray Bradbury

As it turned out, Nick didn’t get a job with Marvel, but they said he has a good chance next year.  So Heather and I went to see if we could get into the Dr. Horrible signing, and Nick went to discuss his portfolio with Jeff Mariotte.  Heather, in all her great and cute Asian glory, got us into the signing and we were among the last few people to meet Joelle Jones, Maurissa Tancharoen, Zack Whedon, and Joss Whedon.  They were all very nice, especially considering I had absolutely nothing for them to sign.  I never thought I’d get into the signing at all!  There was no Dr. Horrible merchandise for sale at the Darkhorse booth, and I had to make do with a comic poster and a Serenity lunchbox.  Somehow, through my trembling fangirl joy, I managed to invite Joss Whedon to the Tucson Festival of Books.  He looked at the brochure for a moment, then told me he probably wouldn’t have time.  I said something like “I know, but I had to ask.”

Joss Whedon + me! Yeah!

We flew back on Sunday morning.  It was a pretty awesome weekend, and I’m thankful to everyone who made it so awesome.

I spend way too much time on the metro now. At least an hour and a half each day. But hey, it’s worth it, and really it’s not so bad. It just makes me very reluctant to be social after work, unless it’s before I leave Manhattan or near where I live. Actually, speaking of socializing, I got to see a Missouri friend while he was up here. We had fun with some pizza and a comic store.

Also in the book news: I want to read this so badly, Child Thief by Brom. I love the Peter Pan story and this looks amazing. Yes, it’s published by HarperCollins, but that’s not the point. This just looks like a really great shake up of the Peter Pan tale. If anything it’s more dark than the original.

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

To celebrate the upcoming release of CHILD THIEF, Eos and Brom are giving away 3 original sketches or a signed print from THE CHILD THIEF. 

You might not have heard of him, but I bet you’ve seen his work before, Brom is a celebrated fantasy artist, and he’s illustrating his own work of literary fiction, a retelling of Peter Pan.

I read this in manuscript form, and LOVED it.  CHILD THIEF goes on sale August 25th, (same as the anthology UNBOUND)  More info at the Eos Blog.

–Kim

A reader asked me yesterday what I was reading, and while I was answering, I realized it was going to take more time than I wanted to put in right then.  Besides, I wanted links! Who am I reading?  As you can imagine, I don’t have that much time to read, but I do have the pleasure occasionally of reading something for possible blurbage (cover quote)  I’ve got three such authors I want to tell you about, all of them having books just about ready to hit the shelf:

• Sandman Slimby Richard Kadrey (July 21st) http://www.myspace.com/kadrey  Gritty.  Wonderful.  Read it.
• Child Thiefby Brom.  Yes, the artist Brom. Jealous, jealous I am that he can express himself both visually and with words.  (Aug 25th) http://www.bromart.com/  Lyrical.  Provocative.  Read it.
• Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curseby Kaleb Nation (Sep 1st) This is YA, and has the feel of the first Harry Potter book. http://www.kalebnation.com/  Fun.  Escapism.  Get your kid to read it.

For writers who are already established, I’m looking forward to a few new releases.

• City of Souls by Vicki Pettersson. (June 30 ) book four in the Signs of the Zodiac series.  http://www.vickipettersson.com I’m reading this right now and loveing it.  I’m interviewing her on July 2 on The Beyond.  More info later. 
• Prey by Rachel Vincent http://rachelvincent.com/ (July 1)  This is the 4th in her Werecat series, so if you’ve not read any, you have a bunch to chew on to catch up.
• Skinwalkerby Faith Hunter.  (July 7)  Brand-new series of a vampire killing bad-ass.  http://www.faithhunter.net/  Faith always give wonderfully flawed characters you might not always like at first.  A true professional at her craft.
• My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent http://rachelvincent.com/ (August 1) New YA that sounds fabulous.  I’ve not read this yet, but I want to.
• Dayhunterby Jocelynn Drake.  The second in the Dark Days series of vampires who DON’T sparkle. They bad. Really bad.  http://jocelynndrake.blogspot.com/  This one is actually out right now, so you don’t have to wait.  The first book is called Nightwalker.

And one link for me.  http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/06/23/vampire_fiction/index.html  The article is mostly about other urban fantasy authors, but I’m in there!

–Kim

This was the first time for me creating characters for video games.  Even our studio was new at it, we had only done a couple full 3D titles at this point. (Shrek Superslam, and Sims).  In production at the time was also Bionicle.  We decided to go with enormous environments that limited our character poly count signifigantly.  We had lots of poly drop out and it was on this project that we discovered that the DS scans in a line down the screen as it draws. So the more straight on the players view, the more polys were potentially stacked up behind each other.  SInce the DS can only draw a certain amount of poly’s at a time we discovered lots of issues.  In the end, despite the flop of the movie, the game was excellent.  We also learned alot about constructing characters and how to distribute poly’s more efficiently.

Many questions rise up when one comes to Brisinger; what happens to Murtagh, who’s actually Eragon’s real father, who will become Saphira’s mate, who will ride the green dragon. Stuff like that.  Well i went to www.shurtugal.com and they had some compelling theories on what might happen next.  I will start with what will happen to Murtagh

What will happen to Murtagh?

In Brisinger, Eragon tells Murtagh that changing the way he and Thorn act and their personalities, they will change their true names, thus Galbatorix would lose power over them.  Murtagh argues that Galbatorix probably has something to alert himself about Murtagh’s and Thorn’s true name changing.  Anyway Eragon tries to convince Murtagh that he can save him, and it shows hits that Murtagh does want to be saved, but his fear for Galbatorix is greater.  This shows us Murtagh has some good in him, that he is only doing this because Galbatorix is forcing him to.  I believe Murtagh and Thorn will attempt to change to good, or die trying.  His conversion, or the hatching of the green dragon, I believe, will change the tides in the war to the Varden.

Who’s actually Eragon’s Father?

Listen to this because Shurtagal.com has a great explanation. Murtagh said that Morzan was his father in the ancient language, and since you can’t lie in the ancient language, Morzan must be his father!” We all Know Selene was Murtagh and Eragon’s mother right, well they both assumed Morzorn was also both their father.  However, this is not at all true, and in reality Morzan is not Eragon’s father. It is Brom.

It makes way more sense. It also says you can tell an untruth in the Ancient Language if you believe it is truth.  Murtagh believed he was full blooded brothers with Eragon,  they share a mother, and there was no proof to say otherwise, so he assumed he was Morzorn’s son and spoke it in the ancient language.

Proof

P. 546

“Son and Father alike, both blind as bats”

It’s about betrayal. Brom was blind to Morzorn’s betrayal and Eragon to Murtagh’s.  Also in Eldest, Oromis tells Eragon about Morzorn.  He tells him how Morzorn was his greatest failure and how Brom idolized him.  Brom followed Morzorn everywhere, never contradicted him, and never believed that he could best Morzan in any venture.  Morzorn took advantage of Brom’s devotion a hundred different times, and Morzorn became proud and cruel.  But, before Oromis could seperate Brom and Morzorn, Morzorn helped Galbatorix steal a dragon hatchling, (Shruikan) to replace Galbitorix’s dead dragon, killing it’s original rider. Then Morzon and Galbatorix fled together.

Direct quote from Eldest, pg 280

“You cannot begin to fathom the effect Morzan’s betrayal had on Brom until you understand the depth of Brom’s affection for him. And when Galbatorix at last revealed himself and the Forsworn killed Brom’s dragon, Brom focused all of his anger and pain on the one who he felt was responsible for the destruction of his world: Morzan.”

Well there it is, Brom was majorly pissed off at Morzon, so of course he would do anything possible to get back at him.  Well Selene had fled from Morzorn after she had Murtagh, well she went to Carvahal.  Brom was in Carvahal, or went to Carvahal, anyway Selene ended up having another baby, Eragon.  The actual father was never disclosed, only assumed.  Why wouldn’t Brom comfort the woman abused by Morzorn?  Why wouldn’t he fall in love with her in the process?  Why wouldn’t they end up having a baby?  Of course it would be kept secret, to avoid issue.  Brom ends up killing Morzorn, and takes his sword.  The end of Morzorn.  Anyway it fits. After Selene died, why would Brom stay in Carvahal. He clames he was staying there waiting for the new Dragon rider.  It was also he wanted to keep an eye on his son.  Also of course the next dragon rider will probably end up being his own son, of course.  He was so quick to pick up on Eragon’s dragon riding because he was looking for it all along.

Anyway another little tidbit that i noticed is Morzorns dragon was red that’s why Zarroc is red. Ok Murtagh’s dragon Thorn is red.  Brom’s dragon the original Saphira was blue, Eragon’s  dragon Saphira is blue.  Coincidence i think not.

anyway i have go so I’ll talk about this later.

]]> http://thedrunkenscholar.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/the-plucker-is-coming/ Thu, 07 May 2009 22:29:16 +0000 DrunkenScholar http://thedrunkenscholar.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/the-plucker-is-coming/

So I have taken time from my busy day to bring you all some excellent news. Actually, this news brightened my day exponentially, and if I don’t talk about it I might die. DIE!

New Line Cinema has picked up rights to dark-fantasy-artist-turned-author Brom’s The Plucker. For the large majority of those of you who have no idea who or what I’m talking about go slow, as to not overload your brain meats with awesome.

You can get a better feel for who the hell Brom is here. Now on to the good stuff!

The Plucker follows the story of Jack, a discarded jack in the box toy who has been sentenced to Under the Bed – the place where toys go to die, forgotten by the children who once loved them. While there Jack discovers that his child’s home has been invaded by a malevolent spirit called The Plucker, who steals the souls of children. Why does he do this? He’s a demon…duh. After being transformed into a weapon by ancient magicks, Jack will embark on a quest to destroy the Plucker and save the soul of his boy.

Excited? Yeah, you should be. And if you’re not? Well, fuck. Bad news. You don’t have a pulse…or any shred of whimsy about you, which is even sadder. You can get full details of the project thus far from Variety.

Jack ready to kick some zombie-toy-demon ass!

Brom has written two other illustrated novels, one being The Devil’s Rose a story described as a western set in hell, and the other The Child Thief, which comes out this August. The Child Thief is described as a nightmarish retelling of Peter Pan.

Happy Wednesday.

Lovejoy’s certainly happy today after his Chelsea pulled off a draw at Barcelona last night.  He was blogging away yesterday with his new camera before and after the match and we’re putting them up on the site as they come in so check out the homepage from time to time today for his reaction.

It’s quite quiet actually, Robbie’s off to New York for a holiday, plus Sheephead and Fenners are at Wentworth interviewing Clive Tyldesley.  Later on today, Derek Acorah is coming in to chat to us.  We’re thinking of doing it down in the cellar where he’s bound to feel something.  Jadeen says if he does sense anything she’s not going down there any more (it’s where we send her to review horror films).

Almost forgot to mention that yesterday we were very excited, Sheephead in particular, when Oooh Gary Davies came in to the office:

He is looking after great new singer Alex Roots who came in to do a URA&R which will be on the site soon.

So on the site today we’ve mainly got Lovejoy’s blogs from Barcelona

which are well worth a look.

We’ve also got the second half of Rio Ferdinand’s We Want Answers.  He’s a Michael Jackson freak, apparently.

Fenners and Sheephead are back as the pessimistic West Bromwich Albion fans:

And if one video is going to save your life today, it’s this.  It’s our latest on the swine flu virus:

Enjoy!

Ob Brom ein für den Menschen essentielles Spurenelement ist, ist noch nicht geklärt. Es kommt zwar im menschlichen Körper vor, ob und welche Aufgaben es im Stoffwechsel übernimmt, ist aber unbekannt.

Alkan er eit hydrokarbon utan nokon funksjonell gruppe. Det er rett og slett ei metta karbonkjede med hydrogenatom, eit metta hydrokarbon.
Alkana er lite reaktive. Mellom anna reagerer alkana med O2 først ved 400-500 grader celsius!

Når alkana først brenn, så skjer det ein fullstendig forbrenningsreaksjon, det vil sei at verken CO(g) eller C(s) blir danna. Sidan C(s) ikkje blir danna, brenn alkan med klar flamme, vel og merke når det er overskot av oksygen.

Dersom temperaturen er høg eller vi har UV-lys som lyser mot løysinga kan vi riktignok få alkanet til å reagere med andre stoff. Vi kan mellom anna bytte ut enkelte hydrogen-atom med halogen som klor og brom. Dette skjer ved ein substitusjonsreaksjon.

For å illustrere kva som skjer i ein slik reaksjon skriv eg no ned likninga for reaksjonen mellom metan og brom.

CH4(l) + Br2(l) -> CH3Br(l) + HBr(l)

Deretter kan CH3Br reagere vidare med Br2 til CH2Br2, CHBr3 og CHBr4.

Dette tar derimot tid, så for å substituere eit hydrogenatom i C6H14(heksan) med eit brom-atom til C6H13Br, så tar det opp til 16-17 timar når vi berre har rundt 20-30 mL C6H14.

Det nye halogenerte alkanet er i motsetning til alkanet reaktivt. Derfor kan vi bruke det nye stoffet til å danne andre stoff.

Her er eit bilete av etan:

This was my second year going to IlluXCon and it was AMAZING!!! This year I went with my good friend Grant Cooley, who is also an aspiring illustrator and a great artist. We flew into Pittsburgh Thursday and then drove over to Altoona, PA.

By the time we arrived on Thursday, things were wrapping up. We left IlluXCon and checked into the hotel. We hung out in the bar for a bit and then called it a night. Little did we know that this would be the last bit of sleep we would be getting for the next three days!

Friday morning started off with a bang! Grant is a gym nut, so he went to work out. Turns out Don Maitz, creator of Captain Morgan, had the same idea. When I went to get Grant so we could go to breakfast, I found him working out and chatting with Don! How cool!

At breakfast, one of my art heroes BROM, got seated next to us. Later he asked to borrow our ketchup! I know, right … pretty cool, but things were only getting started. I spent most of breakfast pointing out to Grant all the famous artists that were around the room. IlluXCon is a really special convention for this reason. Where else do you see Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell eating eggs on one side of the room while on the other is BROM eating potatoes!

Sam Flegal and BROM

Once we got to the convention center Grant and I rushed over to a panel on the Art of Self Promotion. The speakers were Donato Giancola, Ruth Sanderson, Caniglia, Boris Vallejo, and Julie Bell. They began by explaining where each of them came from and how they got their start. One thing I thought was cool was that Julie Bell didn’t get her start until she was 30. Just another example of it never being too late to start doing what you LOVE!

A few gems the group passed onto us were to always be self-confident, keep a positive attitude, and do what it takes. They recommended updating your website as often as possible and trying to be consistent on when you update it. Doing it once a week or once a month matters less than getting in a pattern of updates that’s easy for other people to follow. The last thing I really took away was this: WORK HARD and STAND OUT! It is important to have work of equal caliber as the top names in your field; if you don’t, continue to hone your craft. In order to stand out consider doing crazy hard stuff, like a illustration with thirty or more figures in it, etc…

We then went to an acrylic painting demo by Michael Whelan and Chris Moeller. All I can say is wow! One tip they shared was starting on a gray or mid-tone covered canvas. This allows you to lay in the darks and then pull out the lights. Whelan kept a hair dryer on hand just in case he saw something he liked that happened by accident so that he could preserve it. He also used a sharpened chopstick at one point to paint hair! It was really impressive to watch these two champs work!

I had to leave the painting demo to go and do my scheduled portfolio review with Lou Anders, editorial director for Pyr books. My review with Lou set the tone for most of my portfolio reviews throughout the weekend. He honed in on my Harlequin Dancer piece and said that when I had five more just like it (and she was the last piece in my portfolio rather then the first), I should start getting regular work. I was so HAPPY!!! This was the first time anyone had told me that I was close!

Harlequin Dancer by Sam Flegal

After that I met back up with Grant. We then ran into Eric Fortune and his friend Ray. In between witty banter and basic bull shitting, it was decided that we needed to go get some wine before the bronze pouring … yes there was a legit bronze pouring by Vincent Villafranca and it was awesome!

Between 2000-degree fire and drinks the night got off to a great start!

But, more on that later…

We’ve gathered a list of the top five uses of pumpkin/jack-o-lantern in a movie or title.  Here are GoreMaster’s favorites for your Halloween season viewing and enjoyment! 

5.  It’s the Great Pumpkin,  Charlie Brown (1966)

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is an animated television special, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.

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It was the third Peanuts special (and first Halloween special) to be produced and animated by Bill Meléndez. Its initial broadcast took place on October 27, 1966, on the CBS network, preempting My Three Sons; CBS re-aired the special annually through 2000, with ABC picking up the rights beginning in 2001. The program was nominated for an Emmy award. It has been issued on home video several times, including a Remastered Deluxe Edition of the special released by Warner Home Video on September 2, 2008, with the bonus feature It’s Magic, Charlie Brown which was released in 1981.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, a retrospective book was published in 2006 entitled, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic with the entire script, never-before-seen photographs, storyboard excerpts, and interviews with the original child actors who provided the voices of the Peanuts gang.

4.  Pumpkinhead (1988)

Pumpkinhead is a 1988 supernatural horror film, combining elements of

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fable, fairy tale, and morality. It was the directorial debut of noted special-effects artist Stan Winston. The film has become quite popular with horror fans for Winston’s atmospheric direction and memorable monster, and has built up a cult following in the years since its release, and is thought to be a classic of the genre.

3. The Legend of Sleepy Hallow (1958)

The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, based on Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (narrated by Bing Crosby). The gangly and lanky Ichabod Crane is the new schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow. His somewhat odd behavior makes him the ridicule of the rambunctious and robust town bully Brom Bones. Despite his odd appearance, Ichabod quickly proves to be a ladies’ man charming all the eligible local ladies. Finally, however, Ichabod discovers the local town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel.  Brom decides to take advantage of Ichabod’s strong belief in superstitions. 

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Brom musically tells the tale of the Headless Horseman to frighten the teacher. That Halloween night, Crane’s lonely ride home becomes exceedingly frightening because of his exposure to the possibility of encountering the ghost.

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 stop motion

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 fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from “Halloween Town” who opens a portal to “Christmas Town”. Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as other minor characters. The remaining principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page and Glen Shadix.

The genesis of The Nightmare Before Christmas started with a poem by Tim Burton as a Disney animator in the early-1980s. With the success of Vincent in 1982, Disney started to consider The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short subject or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton’s thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, Burton and Disney made a development deal. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco. Walt Disney Pictures decided to release the film under their Touchstone Pictures banner because they thought Nightmare would be “too dark and scary for kids”. The Nightmare Before Christmas has been viewed with critical and financial success. Disney has reissued the film annually under their Disney Digital 3-D format since 2006.

1. John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978)

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Halloween

is a 1978 American independent horror film set in the fictional suburban midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois, USA on Halloween. The original draft of the screenplay was titled The Babysitter Murders. John Carpenter directed the film, which stars Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, and Nick Castle, Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace sharing the role of Michael Myers (listed in the credits as “The Shape”). The film centers on Myers’ escape from a psychiatric hospital, his murdering of teenagers, and Dr. Loomis’ attempts to track and stop him. Halloween is widely regarded as a classic among horror films, and as one of the most influential horror films of its era. In 2006 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Fourteen-year-old Nick would be lying dead in a Brooklyn park—murdered by drug dealers­—had Peter not sprung out of the trees to save him. Now the irresistibly charismatic wild boy wants Nick to follow him into a strange and unsettling mist swirling around the bay. Even though he is wary of Peter’s crazy talk of faeries and monsters, Nick agrees. After all, nowhere in New York City is safe for him now. And what more can he possibly lose?

There is always more to lose.

Accompanying Peter to a gray and ravished island that was once a lush, enchanted paradise, Nick finds himself unwittingly recruited for a war that has raged for centuries. He must learn to fight or die as he struggles to fit in with the “Devils”—Peter’s savage tribe of lost and stolen children.

Here, Peter’s dark past is revealed: left to wolves as an infant, despised, tormented, and hunted, Peter moves between the worlds of faerie and man, struggling to understand what he is and where he belongs. The Child Thief is a leader of bloodthirsty children, a brave friend, and a creature driven to do whatever he must to kill the dreaded Captain and stop his murderous crew of “Flesh-eaters” before they blight every trace of magic left in this dying land.

~ Synopsis blatantly stolen from the EOS site.

As I sit here and stare into space, it dons on me that this is going to be a very difficult review to write. The release seemed to have come out of nowhere–a book written by an artist that I had scarcely heard of before. There was interest though, despite reading a short excerpt that left me rather uncertain of the whole thing. After reading the first chapter I felt the prose was workmanlike, a factor that can push me to put down a novel faster than anything else, but the story was interesting. Then there was the art. Just seeing the samples that Brom had up on his sight was more than enough to make me want the book. So I took a chance and ordered it, knowing full well that I might just end up with a rather expensive and very slight art book. I am glad I took a chance.

It is highly like that you have watched Disney’s version of Peter Pan at some point, either as a child, with a child, as a fan of Disney cartoons, or just bored out of your mind on a rainy day. At some point you may have watched another version of it released in the nineties, Hook. The Child Thief has nothing to do with those. Instead it is based off the original–and darker works–by J.M. Barrie, but Brom has not created a simple dark retelling of the tale. Brom blends Celtic myth with the concept of Barrie’s child thief and from this combination springs a setting that is brimming with imagination, wonder, and foreboding. This is a setting where not everything is as it seems, where the line between good guy and bad is blurred, and where old gods frolic and die.

Though I did have my reservations going into the novel because of the prose, they were quickly dissolved. Instead of the workmanlike prose I encountered in the first chapter, I was instead faced by a prose that was near-lyrical and filled with just the sort of imagery I would expect from an artist-turned-writer. The Child Thief is extremely readable, not because the prose is simple, but because it–and the story–grabbed me and refused to let go. I almost expected the novel to be bogged down with description, but thankfully that turned out to be a biased assumption and little more. Brom manages a balanced description that paints just enough of a picture–spiced with vibrant colors–to let the imagination run with it. As such, the novel is never bogged down by excessive description, nor does it skim over details.

The best part of the novel though, what I feel deserves the most praise, are the characters. Like all books you have primary characters and you have secondary characters and, like most books, the secondary characters here are not given any extraordinary amount of focus. This is so common these days that I do not bother to mark it as a negative–it has become par for the course. Still, there are secondary characters throughout the novel that are focused on, if only briefly, and when this happens… well, it managed to change my perspective of the novel completely. The main characters seem to be Peter, the iconic wild boy that just so happens to be an obsessed sociopath, and Nick, a recent addition to Peter’s Devils. Nick is a skeptic and a doubt-bringer, in constant struggle with himself and the world around him. On the other hand, Peter is cocksure, a trickster, who will do anything for Avalon and the Lady of the Lake he promised to always serve. The two work extremely well off of each other, with Nick serving as the conscience that Peter lacks and Peter standing in as the wild boy Nick might become.

Nothing is ever certain or as expected in this novel. The Flesh-Eaters, a group of English immigrants and the crews of the ships they sailed on, and their war against the Faery of Avalon provides a stark realization of this truth, as do characters on both sides of the fight. This was a pleasant surprise and one that certainly elevated my estimation of the novel, but I am afraid I cannot go any further into it as it would be a definite spoiler.

Another high point of the novel was the art. Each chapter is preceded by a sketch that illustrates some scene from the chapter and each is of high quality and take up an entire page. There are also several full-color glossy illustrations tucked into the middle of the book that detail a handful of the characters found within the novel. The novel is almost worth buying for the art alone, but that this novel is very near to fantastic is a definite reason to pick it up as well.

I found this review hard to write because I have a lot of praise of the novel, but not much in the way of complaints. My major complaint was the use of CAPS when a character yelled and the characters yelled more than enough to make it annoying. It is not something I see a lot of these days, thankfully, which probably makes it stand out all the more when it does appear. Do not like it at all. My second complaint has to do with the cursing, but it is not really my complaint. I have nothing against cursing in novels and it did not bother me at all, but I can see others being bothered by the abundance of four letter words.

The Child Thief is a dark tale that still manages to be chock full of wonder and imagination, while including more than its share of violence, foul mouths, and unbalanced minds. The main characters as well as some of the more prominent secondary characters are undeniably human with faults, doubt, and real emotions. Near-lyrical prose and an interesting story do a lot to lure the reader into the pages and the trap that waits amongst them, forced to continue on and on until finally there is only the last page to turn. And of course, the art is a wonderful supplement to the novel. If I was forced to chose a book at this moment to name the best I’ve read this year, I do believe this would be that book. I am serious when I say this: Do yourself a favor and buy this book.

Chris Brunt scores twice as West Brom take full advantage of a dismal Middlesbrough display in a top-of-the-table clash in the Championship…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: soccer archive. For a different topic see in sentence. The blog is also related to: german football.

The first of Brom’s novels that I ever read is a large illustrated novel called The Plucker. It is a horror story if I ever read one but a horror story that centers around a world that we never think of: the world of toys, the world that we grow out of and concide to the Under-Dark, that place beneath the bed where once-beloved toys are sent to be forgotten and die.

I will tell you right now, this is NOT a child’s storybook. I would not give this book to a student below the 9th grade because of maturity level. That’s not to say that students beneath 9th grade aren’t mature or that all 9th graders are, but I personally would not feel comfortable handing this book to one of my students at this age.

Poor Jack-in the-Box used to be his owner’s favorite toy but now he has found himself consigned to the UnderDark. Here he does not have the benefit of friends, or even the old Tin Soldier to talk to. Just toys that have so lost the glamour of their master’s love that they have lost the will to live and have become mere, lifeless playthings once again. But, most of all, from under the bed, Jack cannot see the Angel, a beautiful toy brought from Belgium. When the little boy’s naval officer father brings home a spirit doll from Africa, he accidentally cracks it and releases an evil spirit into this innocent child’s world. Now Jack must fight, not only to save every toy in the Room, but also his young master’s very life.

This story is at once terrifying and fascinating. I couldn’t put it down and made myself leave it home from school so I wouldn’t be tempted to read it when I had things to do. The illustrations are gorgeous and the entire novel is full of them. It’s a good story but not necessarily a nice one. Brom’s speciality is personal horror so get ready to be deliciously frightened and fascinated.