Book Review: The Sculptor, by Scott McCloud

Holy crap!  I don't know what hit me!

I couldn't put this graphic novel down.  I've read both Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics (both are non-fiction), and I enjoyed both.  The Sculptor is the first work of fiction I have read by McCloud (I know that he did a comic series called Zot!, but I had never seen it before and will definitely need to check it out now).

I have to admit that the subject matter of this graphic novel was not initially appealing to me, so I passed on getting this book when it first came out.  Later, I saw a 5-star review by Wil Wheaton on Goodreads.  After that, I read the description again on the inside of the dust jacket and decided to buy it - this is easily the largest graphic novel I've purchased, and is the only one I've purchased in hardcover outside of the Akira manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo.  Thank you to Mr. Wheaton for posting that review, since it definitely influenced my decision to read this story.  Granted, the review was only two sentences, but it was effective.

Once I started reading it, I didn't want to stop.  I was drawn into the story, and the interactions of different characters.  This is a an exploration of an all-encompassing desire that is very realistic.  Life is not fair.  Things are not always as they seem.  Things do not go as planned.  People act in irrational ways.  You make more mistakes trying to make things right before things finally improve - if they improve at all.  There are also many "Oh crap!" moments in this story, and it is like watching a train wreck - you just can't stop reading (I almost read this in a single evening).

For me, this story was somewhat reminiscent of the TV show Party of Five (a group of friends used to ask "how many bad things can happen to this poor family?") - you just couldn't NOT watch!   It also reminded me of a story formula that was written by Lester Dent (the original author of Doc Savage Pulp Magazines in the 1930's and 1940's).  In this formula, he described what should be done in each quarter of the story he was writing (and he used this for every pulp story he sold), and one of the items which was used in each quarter was something along the lines of "heap more misfortune on the shoulders of the hero".  This story kind of felt like that.  There were also several scenes in this story made me relive very powerful moments in TV shows I've watched over the years that an emotional effect on me (if you are familiar with Babylon 5 and St Elsewhere, you will know what I'm talking about).

The Sculptor is a major piece of storytelling, and I'm looking forward to Mr. McCloud's future efforts.

Book Review: The Fold, by Peter Clines

This book was great!

Mike Erikson is a wonderful central character.  I loved the mystery through the first half of the book, and his methods of unraveling the mystery were really amazing.  I was reminded of Nicolas Cage's character in the first National Treasure movie, where he made immense leaps in deduction.  However, unlike National Treasure, where the leaps and bounds were made entirely in Cage's head (based on information that the audience is not privy to in advance), in The Fold, it stems from the protagonists unique talent using apparently insignificant knowledge in the story itself - that is, the reader is aware of this information, but will not be able to make the connections. While I won't reveal his talent (so as not to spoil things for potential readers), I will say that the talent is incredibly well described and leveraged throughout the story.  Positives and negatives of his talent are also explored, which represents Erikson as a very believable, vulnerable, human being.

The story starts off as a science fiction mystery, and then has overtones of horror after the mid-point where you start learning what is really going on.  This slowed me down a bit as I wasn't expecting it, but through the whole story I really couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.  I will say that I had formed my own ideas of what was going on (I have loved science fiction books/movies for decades, so I've seen quite a bit), but when everything was revealed it was a nice surprise to me.

This book also has some good humor, starting from the first page.  That, combined with the limited horror aspect, makes this novel more accessible than Clines' previous novel, 14, which to me was more of a Lovecraftian-based horror mystery (I also enjoyed it immensely and have recommended it to others),  I think it will appeal to a larger audience than 14 .  The twist at the end of The Fold was also very satisfying, and I'm hoping it is something that is explored further in future novels.  I will say it will only be satisfying to readers who are familiar with 14 - that really doesn't give much away for either book.  All of these elements make this a solid story which is very well told.

This is the third book I've read by this author.  I had picked up and read a copy of Ex-Patriots a few years ago, not knowing that it was the second book in his zombie series (it was the only book available at the store, and wasn't described as part of a series).  I found it very satisfying once I started to get into it - about  halfway through, at which point I couldn't put it down.  I do plan on reading the others in the series, and I have heard that they get better the further you go.  The series is also continuing (I believe book 5 is due to be released in early 2016).

I am anxiously awaiting the future efforts from Mr. Clines.