Hi, lovelies. Here’s my month in books, movies, television, and games.
Books
Trail of Lightning is a fantastic urban fantasy novel by Rebecca Roanhorse. Set after flooding and natural disasters caused by climate change, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) is surrounded by a massive wall that protects it from the outside world. However, the survivors face not only the aftereffects of natural disaster, but also the reawakening of witches, monsters, and old gods. Fighting these monsters is Maggie Hoskie, a supernaturally gifted monster hunter and killer, who must face her past in order to defeat them. This is a powerfully fun read, one that has me excited to explore more of this world.
Secret Passages by Axelle Lenoir is a fictional memoir about growing up in a small town. The story imagines the author as a young girl being raise by parents who may or may not be aliens and whose brother’s imaginary friend may be a blood-thirsty demon. As a girl, she has a hard time relating to school, which seems like a strange place to her, and so she communes with the forest for comfort. It’s a delightfully weird book, and I hope the author continues the tale.
As a fan of corvids, I was drawn to Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig based on the title alone. But the story about a woman who receives visions about the time and means of people’s deaths drew me in as a well. Having witnessed thousands of deaths, Miriam Black is bitingly grim humored, avoiding getting too close to other human beings — considering she can’t seem to change the fate of anyone she meets. But when she hitches a ride with Louis, a good-natured truck driver, she shakes his hand and sees his terrifying death, one for which she is destined to be present — and she realizes that she will have to fight to save his life in order to save her own. Blackbirds is a darkly grim character study, which manages to find the sliver of hope in the face of inevitable death.
Nghi Vo’s Siren Queen is a stunning work of art. Presented as the life story of a Chinese American woman, who rises to become a star in Hollywood — but this is not the Hollywood of this world. Instead it is a kind of fairy realm, one that exacts a sharp (and sometimes deadly) price on those who long for fame, a realm in which it is all to easy to loose yourself and the ones you love.
I read two phenomenal comics. The first is Maw, written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with art by A.L. Kaplan and Fabiana Mascolo. Maw is a story of rage and monstrousness. When Marion joins her sister Wendy at a remote feminist retreat, she begins a strange and horrifying transformation, one that leads to bloodshed and a renewed sense of power.
I fell in love with the Saga series from page one. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples features a beautifully illustrated and rich scifi fantasy, in which two people from the opposing sides of a multi-generational war fall in love, have a child together, and attempt to escape the conflict — only to be hunted down as outlaws.
If you’re not into horror, or specifically slashers, then this book is not for you. Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a love song to slasher films, with its main character Jude being entirely enamored with them. Slasher films, for her, were an escape from her sh*thole of a life, and there is a part of her that longs for a slasher event to occur, so that the people of her community can get their comeuppance.
Odessa by Jonathan Hill is a graphic novel about an apocalyptic future following an earthquake that tore apart most of civilization. The Crane family scratches by through scavenging and other odd tasks, which the barter for their food and needs. When Virginia Crane suddenly receives a letter and gift from her mother (whom the family has long assumed was dead), she begins a journey traveling across the Western U.S. looking for her — along with her two younger brothers. The siblings face violence, but also find support and kindness — and they face the dangers of the world together. It’s a beautiful story with gorgeous two-tone artwork. I’m definitely going to be continuing the series.