My last 5 books: Fantasy and superheroes

1. The Trouble With Peace, by Joe Abercrombie. Holy fucking shit. Like wow. Those twists at the end have me at a loss for words, like... What?! How did I not see that coming? None of it?! I usually figure stuff out! Okay, from the start. Most of this book is about Savine and Leo ending up working with the conspiracists who plan to overthrow the government, and they're both so convinced they can do it. Half the book had me shaking my head at Leo, like what are you doing, you blundering dunderhead of a fool!? The other half had me exasperated at Savine, wishing Stour would die, admiring Rikke, really starting to like Orso, and kind of wishing Clover was my big brother. Then came the battle and through it all I had no idea who would win at the end, the writing was just so expertly done that every time I read about Orso's side I was convinced he'd win, and every time I read about Leo's side I was convinced he'd win. Like damn. O_o And Abercrombie can write battles. He's proven that time and time again. I was actually wincing at the book as I read my way through the battle. I was really sad to see Glokta resign though, that passage (apart from the ends) really hit me the hardest, like admitting he was getting old and I don't want him to die. Don't kill my favourite, please? But those final thirty pages. Savine. Orso. Leo. Clover. Stour. Rikke. Pike. O.M.G. Is the next one out yet?

2. Storm Front, by Jim Butcher. Amazingly, I have never read a Harry Dresden book before. I grew up slightly preoccupied with another wizard named Harry. Just as well. This book was published in 2001 and I don't think 10 y/o me would have appreciated this book. 30 y/o me very much did, though. It was snarky, sarcastic, exciting, interesting, action-filled and clever. Dresden sounds like a very fun guy to hang around. I kind of envy Susan. And Murphy. This book starts out with two cases, one run-of-the-mill missing husband (probably cheating) and one definitely not run-of-the-mill double murder. Unsurprisingly, these two cases have everything to do with each other and exactly in the way I first figured. The story and lore are cleverly crafted, but I solved the puzzle way before Dresden did and with a lot less roundabout manners. Dresden is lucky he's so cute. "Cute" meaning odd and sweet, not "cute" as the word you use for a puppy. Even if I did figure out where the story was heading way before even the second murder scene, the story was engaging enough and Dresden amusing enough that I didn't mind to read about all the ways he tried to figure things out. Do yourself a favour and don't ever listen to Bob again, alright?

3. The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá. I've known about this comic for years, but it was only after we watched the Netflix show that I decided I wanted to read it. I went in expecting something very similar to the show, but there were major differences. Personality wise they've done a pretty good job in casting, except Allison and Klaus are way cooler in the comic than they are in the show. Luther's body is way different in the comic than in the show. Considering the way he looks in the comic I think that would've been really hard to portray on camera without a blockbuster budget and lots of CGI. Klaus' powers are so much cooler in the comic too! Like he can fly/float and he's telekinetic on top of being psychic! All of them are sarcastic shits in the comic while they're mostly just sad sacks in the show because their lives have been hard. If I try to look at the comic objectively, and if I try to think of how it would be to start reading it without any previous knowledge of the characters or the story, then I assume it would fall pretty flat because it leaves a lot empty spaces and question marks in the story, but I really enjoyed the sarcastic shits and the action-packed superhero thing. Like I always do. I just really like superheroes. And sarcasm. 

4. The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá. Yes! This is what I'm talking about! Beautifully crafted threads of story that all come together in the end! For the show I felt that the second season was weaker than the first, but for the comic the second volume is way better and a lot stronger than the first. We finally have Hazel and Cha-Cha and the stupid goldfish. And I love that Vanya isn't the cause of the apocalypse this time around (she deserves a break), but that it's actually a joint effort by Five and Klaus. And Klaus has a baby?! omfg! Nothing in this volume turned out the way it did in the show and so I kept being pleasantly surprised every time I turned the page. This was so good.

5. The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion, by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá. This one disappointed me. I believe it was designed to be the epic climax that brings everything introduced previously to a point and brings back old villains and heroes and there's a huge thing. Kind of like Endgame. But it fell completely short of it. Mostly I think because the villains hardly ever got established. Some of these villains show up briefly in Apocalypse Suite and are then never heard of or from again until this volume. It made the whole epic showdown seem disjointed. It was a lot of wait who are you and do I know you and where did you come from and how do you connect with all this? Vanya's sidestory was a whole lot more interesting to me than the epic showdown, too bad there was so little of it and nothing came of it before the volume ended. Worst part? The next volume isn't out yet. This volume ended the same way as season 2 of the show. Sort of. Same basis anyway. So that's gonna be interesting.