Actual Reading Wednesday! ON A FUCKING WEDNESDAY FINALLY

[dhampyresa]

Things I finished reading and need to tell you all about (and one I do!)

Chronicles of Legion 1-3, Darkness Over Cannae, Dr Fate 1-4, D'un monde à l'autre (La Quête d'Ewilan, tome 1), Fragile Things, L'arabe du futur 1, Le Jardin des silences, Loki:Agent of Asgard #1-17, Magnus Chase and the Sword of Asgard, Prince of Cats, Saints 1, Sandman Overture 1-6, Secret Wars 1-7 (still ongoing), Spider-Gwen v1 1-5, Spider-Gwen v2 001, The Infinite Loop 1, The Red Pyramid, The Spire 1-4, Toil and Trouble 1-3, Tumulte à Rome

Les Aigles de Rome, Tomes 2 & 3, by Enrico Marini (art and scenario): (Note: This series was translated in English under the title "Eagles of Rome".) You may remember that I had mixed feelings about book one, way back when. Now, because I'm an idiot and have really really not been keeping this reading meme thing up to date, I read books 2 and 3 way back in August. (So I'm kind of fuzzy on details.)

It wasn't on purpose, but. You know I occasionally travel to The Land of No Internet? The Land of No Internet has a library, which is basically open between 2pm and 4pm on Tuesdays, because the librarian handles like, two dozens similarly sized libraries in two dozens similarly sized tiny villages of the French countryside as some sort of TRAVELLING LIBRARIAN which is probably the coolest job description ever. Anyway, someone got me all first three books from the library, because "you like comics, right :D? You like Romans, right :D? This is comics with Romans in :D :D :D!" so obviously I had to read them.

Well, I have pretty much the same mixed feelings about books 2 & 3 than I did about book 1, so at least I'm consistent.

Our protagonists are pretty much grown men now -- which is kind of a shame, because I was really liking seeing how the art was showing their age in both their faces and their body shapes while keeping them consistent. It's actually super hard to draw people who look a specific age (instead of adult and mini-adult for children), because people's proportions evolve as they age and it was really well done here. Marcus at 17 and Marcus at -- how old is he now? -- 27 or so, are not built the same, but they're still clearly the same person.

(Also, his kid is adorable and the whole complicated mess around that kid is probably my favourite thing the story is doing right now.)

So the art remains great. Likewise the story remains very meh.

Arminius is doing some shady shit with the Germans and I kind of get the feeling the author is trying to keep it mysterious whether he's being a double agent for the Romans or not, but like, HE'S BLOODY ARMINIUS OKAY I KNOW HOW THIS STORY ENDS

Also, I feel like the sexism and homophobia have gone up , which is just bloody brilliant let me tell you :/ (Some of this may be displayed in anachronistic ways, I can't quite recall.)

(Okay, but when one of the very very few women in these books basically goes "I fuck Romans because I like the uniforms" I kind of cackled like a witch, because FAIR ENOUGH.)

Yeaaaaaaaaah, there are still some scenes that are more like Roman-themed porn than anything else. At least there are no random threesomes this time around that I can remember? A bunch of orgies, though.

I'm not sure I'd reccomend this series, and definitely not without caveats, but I've read this far and I really enjoy the art and like I said above I KNOW HOW THIS STORY ENDS and it's gonna be great to have Marcus and Arminius end up on different sides -- and basically it's got Romans in it and friends-about-to-turn-enemies and I am a creature of simple taste.


Things I am currently reading, inasmuch as I'm reading anything

Books on hiatus: The Art of War, The Kick-Ass Writer, La véritable histoire de Carthage et de Hannibal, Les Fleurs du Mal, Métronome, Rome's Revolution and The Grass-King's Concubine.

Still reading:

Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic, by Robert L. O’Connell
Trickster Makes This World, by Lewis Hyde
Romanitas, by Sophia McDougall
La quête d'Ewilan, Tome 2 : Les frontières de glace, by Pierre Bottero
Le lecteur de cadavre, by Antonio Garrido

I AM READING FUCK ALL THIS WEEK NOT EVEN COMICS


Things I plan to read next

Idunno, mate. At this rate, it'll end up being Pars vite et reviens tard, for paris_novel_walks , because it's not like I've been reading much lately.

Books that I have already: Pyramids of London, by Andrea K Höst, Prisoner (Echo's Wolf, Book 1) (Werewolf Marines 2) by Lia Silver, Taking Stock by Scott Bartlett, February by Lisa Moore, The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan, The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett, Hostage by Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown, Le Graal de l'Inframonde by Vanessa Callico and Diana Callico.

Books that are out and that I haven't got: L'armée furieuse & Temps Glaciaires by Fred Vargas, Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, by Garth Nix, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Melting Stones and Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, the last two books of Kate Eliott's Spiritwalker trilogy, The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, whatever's out of the Craft Sequence series, Chroniques du Pays des Mères by Elisabeth Vonarburg, Lord of the Two Lands by Judith Tarr, Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter, Barbara Hambly's vampire series, Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw, The Idylls of the Queen by Phillys Ann Karr, Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman and The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.

Books that aren't out yet (and when they're out): The Sleeping Life (Eferum, #2) by Andrea K. Höst (2015), Benjamin January #14 by Barbara Hambly (no idea), the Tris book by Tamora Pierce (2015), The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (caveat), Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer and whatever Jenny Dolfen's next project is.

Books what I'm not sure if I want to read them: City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett: Still IDK.

Comments

[yuuago]

You have been spared from fish-slapping. ;)

That series sounds decidedly meh, indeed. But at least you're consistent.

"I am reading fuck all this week" Go you. Sometimes a break is necessary. ;V

[dhampyresa]

Yay, no fishslapping for me.

I pride myself on my consistency.

Yeah, but I wish I was reading stuff instead.

[isis]

But wait, it's Thursday!

(j/k)

The "Eagles of Rome" books sound...interesting. I mean, thematically they are right up my alley, but you are certainly making them sound less than attractive. It reminds me of the horrible book series by Simon Scarrow, which, my response was like:

Oh look, a book series about Roman Britain, yay!
Oh dear, it's basically generic "mean streets of Londinium" with vaguely Roman names, boo. Guess I'm not finishing this one.

[dhampyresa]

OMG DON'T DO THAT

Well, I can always give more details if you want? Or you can wait until I cave in an read book 4, lmao. To be fair, as far as I can tell the history's accurate so far, not just pasted-on yay.