New Book Review - Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Name - Phoenix Extravagant 

Written by - Yoon Ha Lee

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books for this opportunity.

This was not my first exposure of Yoon Ha Lee, I had previously read one short story by the author which made me interested in longer fiction and led me to request this in NetGalley. 

This book had a very interesting setting clearly inspired by the Japanese occupation of Korea, which really was used in a thoughtful and charismatic way. The anti-colonial sentiment was expressed in a rather unorthodox way using fantasy. The magic system was also quite unique and brilliantly depicted and kept me going through the pages to find out how it worked as a whole. 

Another great thing was the beautiful mechanical dragon Arazi on the cover, which was once again detailed with finesse and was the main star of the book despite appearing after one third of the book. The main character Jebi also brought their unique sense of worldview and his quest to do the right thing. Some of the other characters were also quite interesting despite their minor roles. 

But the main problem was the use of pronouns were a bit confusing especially when the author used they/them for only Jebi when the scene included multiple persons. It often distracted from this otherwise engrossing book. 

I will give this 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

New Book Review - And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - And Put Away Childish Things 

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books for this opportunity.

Portal fantasy is a genre that has been used in a lot of different ways, and as per my experience with this sub-genre I wasn't particularly interested in reading more of this setting. I only decided to check this out in lieu of this being available on NetGalley and my interest in Adrian Tchaikovsky for some time now. 

I definitely should have checked him out a long time ago. The prose is engrossing all throughout with interesting and relatable main character and thoughtful use of real world scenario of Covid to spice up the setting. 

The plot was fast paced with witty dialogue and some very enjoyable homage and poking fun at one of the most well known portal fantasy of all time. The neat little twists and turns of the story kept it from becoming even a bit predictable. 

Harry was a very realistic depiction of a modern day struggling media performer, who is very self centered and obnoxious despite having a well meaning core. Of the bunch of side characters Seitchman was my favourite and despite their minor roles all the other characters were quite expertly fleshed out even the antagonist. 

Although the ending was quite satisfying in tying up everything quite nicely, I really started missing the characters immediately after finishing the book and really wished it was longer (and also hoping for a sequel). 

My rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars. 

Short Story Review - Pretty Good Neighbor by Jeffrey Ford

Name - Pretty Good Neighbor

Written by - Jeffrey Ford

Ilustrated by - FESBRA

Edited by - Ellen Datlow

Published by - Tor.com

Well this one was quite fun, starting with the premise of a simple ghost story then slowly turning into a unique kind of creature feature. The ending twist while being quite predictable did leave a good aftertaste. 

The story begins with a somewhat unreliable narrator telling of his experience with a haunting. The tale begins with a hint of noir crime then suddenly turns in a different direction with some added level of creepiness and horror thrown into the mix. 

Overall I liked the author's style and I really would love to read more about these characters and the creatures in the future.

My rating - 4 out of 5 stars. 

New Comic Review - Venom #20

Name: Venom #20

Published by: Marvel comics

Writer: Al Ewing 

Artists: Cafu

Colorist: Frank D'Armata

Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles  

Every time that I think that maybe this time Ewing will let the ball drop, making the pace too slow to make it drag or make the story too convoluted to make me decide it's just too difficult to follow each month, he delivers such a brilliant piece of curveball to keep me interested in the future of his characters. 

This time the story focuses on Eddie Brock as he returns to wreck havoc in a new style. He goes on a road trip to restart the battle he left off. The unique way of storytelling by Al Ewing once again keeps the readers guessing what to expect in the future while keeping the angles fresh for the future of the series. 

The art and coloring seems a notch higher in quality compared to the past few issues this time. The characters are drawn quite detailed and the action scenes seem to jump out of the pages. This really added much to the overall quality of the end product as well as the level of entertainment . 

A near perfect issue in terms of enjoyment, this gets 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.