Review: Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns, Van Sciver (artist), Prentis Rollins (artist)

Title: Green Lantern: Rebirth
Author: Geoff Johns, Van Sciver (artist), Prentis Rollins (artist)
Series: Green Lantern
Format: Graphic Novel
Pages: 192
Genre: Comics, Science Fiction
Publication Date: March 28th, 2007
Publisher: DC Comics
Rating: 6

Summary:
From Goodreads: The sold out 6-issue miniseries event of 2004-2005 — written by Geoff Johns (THE FLASH, TEEN TITANS) with art by Ethan Van Sciver and Prentis Rollins — is collected for the first time, complete with the preview story from Wizard Magazine! Hal Jordan was considered the greatest Green Lantern of them all. But Jordan lost control, allowed himself to be corrupted and transformed into the villainous Parallax. Later, Jordan reappeared and made the ultimate sacrifice — a sacrifice that allowed him to become the Spectre, the Wrath of God.

After several years of activity on Earth, The Spectre became restless and sought a way to prove himself worthy of that noble reputation. See how a man born without fear and seeking to rebuild his life, puts cosmic forces into motion that will have repercussions not only on Earth but across the universe.

This volume also features an introduction by best-selling author Brad Meltzer and a new cover by Van Sciver!

Why did I read this book? I've always wanted to read something from DC (never really read anything before) and after seeing the Green Lantern movie (which was pretty rough) I thought I might like to try out the comic since there was some underlying awesomeness there.

Source: Gift

My Review
Green Lantern: Rebirth is the story of how Hal Jordan, apparently the best-ever Lantern, is redeemed from destroying the Corps and doing some other really Nasty things. Really, I still don’t really get what happened to Hal in the past – all I know is that he’s got some Spirit of Vengence inside him doing weird and vengeance-y things while also being tormented by Parallax. Some of these scenes bring internal torment to a whole new level.

One reason why I wanted to read Rebirth as my first Green Lantern comic was that it is a rebirth and therefore would be a good time to jump into the mythos. From that perspective, it was a good choice. We get a lot of the back story of the Lanterns: Hal, Kyle, John and Guy. We also get a lot of Lantern mythology about how their green power works and how the Corps came to be. Like I said, I came into this with only what I gleaned from the movie, but it seems like the writer probably retconned a lot of the history. It doesn’t make a difference to me, but maybe longtime fans may feel differently.

What I struggled with most was what was actually happening in the present. It was rough trying to orient myself to what was going on with Hal. The artwork is pretty great and fit the mood and story perfectly, but sometimes it didn’t make it easier to understand what was going on from a mystical level with the Spirit and Parallax.

Rating: 6
In the end, I enjoyed the Lantern story and am even more convinced that Green Lantern is the DC hero for me. One thing that solidified this is how Batman acted like a big jerk the whole book and in the end, I preferred the Lanterns’ 'lighter' style. The other JLA members make appearances which is fun. I do wish there were more women in this miniseries and I’m thinking that it might be common for there to be practically none in the Green Lantern books (other than the love interests). I’m willing to find out, though. To people who have no experience with Green Lantern, this is a rough start, but could be worth it in the end for the mythology and the reinstatement of Hal.

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Review: Talyn: A Novel of Korre by Holly Lisle

Title: Talyn: A Novel of Korre
Author: Holly Lisle
Series: Korre #1
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 576
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: November 28th, 2006
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating: 6

Summary:
From Goodreads: In a world where technology is magic, and war is the only way of life, Talyn is a soldier, one of thousands trained from childhood to protect her country from the monarchist Eastil, who would take away the personal freedoms of the Tonk.

Talyn long ago embraced her fate: to die in battle. This is a war of magic, not of swords, and the battles are fought deep inside the View, a place where the magic inherent in everything and everyone is actualized. The soldiers--on both sides--can bring this magic to the physical plane and use it to destroy houses, fields, and people.

But the Feegash came from across the world, and demanded to be allowed to negotiate peace between the Eastil and the Tonk for the sake of the rest of the world. Their success meant Talyn was out of a job, and at a loss for what to do with her life.

Rather than follow most of her fellow soldiers to jobs in other parts of the world, Talyn stayed with her family in her town--and there she is seduced by a Feegash diplomat. With him she experiences a dark side of herself that she hadn't even imagined, and learns a new kind of magery.
And she discovers the mistreatment of Eastil prisoners of war, still in Tonk hands, and weighs her life against saving theirs.

It's a matter of honor--and her honor will be challenged again and again as she slowly discovers that what the Feegash have brought with them was not peace but an overwhelming oppression, and an evil so insidious no one noticed it until it was too late.

But if Talyn can hone her use of the Feegash flesh-magery, she can turn their own magic back against them. With the help of one of the Eastil prisoners, she might be able to use it to save the Tonk andthe Eastil, and defeat the Feegash once and for all... if it doesn't destroy her from the inside out first.

Source: Bought

My Review
Wow, it’s been a while since I posted a review. I have been so busy with the end of the semester in school and this year it’s been the heaviest workload I have had in my three years in university. Fortunately, I see the light at the end of the tunnel; I am down to two exams and then I can get back into my regular reading schedule.

Now onto the review: I have mixed feelings about Talyn. There are things I loved about it and things I really didn’t love. Firstly, I loved the setting of the novel; it’s a new world that has a fascinating society. Basically there are two cultures of people that occupy land as neighbors who have been warring for over 300 years. One is a free-state democracy type society and the other is a monarchy. The novel explores their issues about racism and elitism between the two factions. Talyn is part of the democracy; they are called Tonks. The book follows her journey through some great adventure and romance (although the romance was a lot more underplayed than I initially expected).

The magic system created in this world is also fantastic. It’s hard to describe. There’s the View which people can enter where they have to power to protect and destroy, and this is used by the warring factions to attack each other constantly, but they are so close that it’s basically a stalemate. They just continue to fight and have even made countless rules and regulations over the centuries that govern this war to the point it is ingrained in their daily lives as harvesting and raising a family.

Lives change when a third race, the Feegash, enter the picture as diplomats and set up a peace treaty between the Tonks and the Eastils. But it doesn’t end there (of course), and they find that there’s more going on than they think.

As for the things I didn’t like, well, the book was not consistent in its intrigue. I found that the beginning was awesome, then it lulled, then it got awesome again, and then instead of creating a great climax, the book for some reason went on for another 200 pages, and then ended in the big confrontation in the last 20 pages. I really found myself wondering why it was taking so long. Some good things happened in those 200 pages but they were so spread out and were events that I couldn’t figure out why they HAD to be there that I felt it was just becoming too contrived. There would be build-up to action and then the author would throw in pages of self-reflection and speculation that I think extremely slowed down the actual plot. This, for me, is what knocked the book down from great to good.

Also, I have to say, they really marketed this book to appeal to fans of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series. The cover is no doubt referencing the cover of Kushiel’s Dart (although I don’t know which came first) and there is even a blurb by Carey on the front. I thought Kushiel’s Dart was okay, so that didn’t really help me in deciding to read this, but I have to say I thought this was better than Kushiel’s Dart. Even though Talyn’s often annoying voice reminded me too much of Phedre (instead of “we are D’Angeline, we are the best!” it was “we are Tonk, we are the best!” every few pages).

Rating: 6
Anyways, I recommend it for those interested in a first person narrative by a strong female protagonist, with great world building. I just warn you that it might be a bore sometimes. I would also probably try another of Lisle's novels one day.

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Review: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold

Title: Beguilement
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Series: The Sharing Knife #1
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 361
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: April 24th, 2007
Publisher: Eos
Rating: 6

Summary:
From Goodreads: The Hugo Award-winning author of "Paladin of Souls" and "The Hallowed Hunt" returns with an enthralling new romantic fantasy--the first volume in an epic two-volume saga.

Source: Bought

My Review
This book is the start of a series about the relationship of the main characters, Fawn Bluefield, a young, Farmer girl, and Dag, an old patroller of the Lakewalker people. They are separated by culture and come together through the fight against an evil blight bogle, or malice, and find themselves on what I suppose will be a long journey together.

I wanted to read this book because I was looking for a good fantasy romance. I had heard this book was a little lighter on the plot and heavier on the romance and it's true, but I didn't have a problem with that. The book follows Fawn and Dag through an adventure early in the book and from there it tappers down in action but continues with strong character development.

I thought the world Bujold created was interesting: two main cultures, the normal Farmers and the Lakewalker people who hold some kind of magical abilities. There are hints of a long and interesting history of these people but it is very brief in description and I had only wished we heard more of it. Her writing is also great; I had no problem with it and enjoyed the author's voice immensely.

So why does it only get a 6? I had some issues in the beginning of the book. I thought some romantic elements were very cliched, such as the fact that Fawn is young, naive and ignorant of the world and then Dag enters the picture and opens her eyes, treats her like a princess, and Fawn becomes a better woman at his guidance and encouragement. I don't like this particular trope because it's just really old fashioned. I would have liked to have seen a stronger female character in Fawn. Things get better by the second half when we are passed that stage in their relationship and the plot moves on. I think in the end I enjoyed it overall; it had me laughing a lot (in a good way) and by the end I really felt like I would like to read the next installment, Legacy.

Rating: 6
I recommend this for anyone looking for a good fantasy romance, as long as you don't mind a lot of damsel-in-distress moments.

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