BOOK REVIEW: PUNKROCKPAPERSCISSORS / AUTHOR: LEE LOUGHRIDGE / PUBLISHER: IMAGE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Comic book colourist Lee Loughridge once spent the 1980s submerged in punk and hardcore music, and PunkRockPaperScissors, a collection of posters and flyers for rock shows, is a tribute to the DIY ethos of punk. It’s not quite a comic book, despite being published by Image. It is quite simply a collection of hand drawn posters for shows that took place mostly in the North East United States in the ‘80s.

There is over 600 flyers included, the most notable clubs featured are CBGB, The Pyramid, The Ritz, and City Gardens, and these flyers, like the clubs and the music, are all part of the history of punk.

These rough, gritty posters would adorn club walls, street corners, windows, car windshields, and the bedrooms of fans back in the day for bands such as The Misfits, Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat. There is also an entire section dedicated to Black Flag and Danzig. Some non-punk bands also feature, including some metal bands and hip hop groups, but these guys shared the same ethos as the punk bands and them being featured is a nice surprise.

There is no real order to the book, each image sometimes appears randomly, but you can’t argue that browsing through it is somewhat mesmerising. There are no descriptions with each image, it is merely the poster, and that’s slightly disappointing; but then do you need a description to go along with Spiderman kicking someone in the face for a GBH show?

Perhaps descriptions and captions of the history of the bands featured and interviews could have added more and brought some insight for younger fans, but as it stands, like it says in the book, it is pure punk rock nostalgia for anyone who grew up immersed in the scene.

While it isn’t the typical book that Image Comics would publish, it is a fine coffee table book and a treasure trove of artistic creativity showcasing the visual history of the hardcore movement in the 1980s. If you love punk, Minor Threat, and hardcore music, this book is for you.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: ALICE’S WONDERLAND: A VISUAL JOURNEY THROUGH LEWIS CARROLL’S MAD AND INCREDIBLE WORLD / AUTHOR: CATHERINE NICHOLS / PUBLISHER: RACE POINT PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

In the 150 years since the first publication of Alice in Wonderland, it has been used as a source material or inspiration by almost all forms of art and media. Catherine Nichols’ Alice’s Wonderland is a hard-backed, glossy-paged “visual journey through Lewis Carroll’s mad, mad world” that delves into the various ways that Wonderland has been imagined by artists, filmmakers, writers and more.

Following a first chapter that covers the inspiration and creation of the stories, Nichols goes on to describe how others have interpreted Carroll’s work through the ages, starting with John Tenniel’s original illustrations, ranging through everything from computer games to steampunk-style cosplay. There’s barely a stone left unturned, which does mean some adaptations feel somewhat short-changed. For example, Jeff Noon’s Automated Alice gets half a page, while Batman villains named after Carroll’s characters receive a glorious two-page spread.

Despite this, the book works, accomplishing exactly what it sets out to do. Everyone can’t be pleased all of the time, and while some may feel personal favourites aren’t given the detail they deserve, Nichols has packed a fascinating read within these 200 pages. Particularly of interest is the influence Alice has had on popular music, ranging from Beatles lyrics to Tom Petty videos, as well as the plethora of political parodies the book spawned at the start of the twentieth century.

While the text is brief at times, it is always informative and interesting. Being a visual guide, the words are accompanied by an array of illustrations and photographs that chronicle the representations of Carroll’s characters throughout the century and a half they have been in existence, throwing in a few surprises along with the familiar. There are moments when it’s hard to tell if Alice’s Wonderland is a book for enthusiasts or casual readers, but for the most part it treads the line between being both, a guide that is as appealing as the world it wishes to show us.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: THE DEATH HOUSE / AUTHOR: SARAH PINBOROUGH / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

An isolated boarding school houses a small group of children and on the surface it seems like any other boarding school, but upstairs there is a dark and ominous fate awaiting each of them. In an alternative England there are people with normal genes and those who are ‘defectives’; children who are deemed to have a defective gene viewed as inferior and inhuman, and when the gene is discovered they are sent to the Death House where they are to live out the rest of their short lives.

The novel starts with the foreboding words, “They say it makes your eyes bleed” about what happens when the time comes for a declining child to be taken to the Sanatorium in the Death House. The presence of the Sanatorium and what lies within haunt every page of the novel and every character within.

Sarah Pinborough has many credits to her writing career, including writing Torchwood novels and a horror series called The Dog Faced Gods, but The Death House will be the novel that makes her one of the most important science fiction and horror writers in the United Kingdom in the next few years.

In Toby, Pinborough creates a typical adolescent boy taken away from home and builds fear around him. The Death House creates a stunning atmosphere and rarely is anything discovered. Some may find the lack of exposition about the history of the world, the house, and some characters such as Matron excruciatingly vague; but these are things Toby doesn’t know, and we as readers share his curiosity and discover himself, love and his fate. We can only guess at the history of the defective genes and how the Matron can treat the children like stock in a shop as Toby puts it.

The children’s consciousness is taken away from them through mundaneness, monotony, endless blood tests and pills. Toby’s journey is an attempt to reclaim that consciousness. To wake up and discover that no matter how bleak things can be, we are left with love and the thing that makes us feel alive is hope in the darkest of times. The haunting alternative vision is reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, both deal with troubling themes and make us ask moral questions of ourselves and both make us feel what it is to human and alive on this earth.

The Death House is a stunning novel, and a harsh reminder that our lives are simply fragile, fleeting, heartbreaking and most likely destined to end long before we want.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: THE IRON GHOST / AUTHOR: JEN WILLIAMS / PUBLISHER: HEADLINE / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

Sequels are always tricky beasts, especially sequels to critically acclaimed debut novels. Stick too close to the winning formula of the first work and there’s a chance that people will get bored; deviate too wildly and fans of the debut novel may get turned off. The Iron Ghost is the sequel to Jennifer William’s first book, The Copper Promise, and as second books go, it does quite well in finding its own way.

The Iron Ghost picks up shortly after the events of the previous novel. Whereas book one was a neatly segmented tour of the world in which each character’s story was skilfully woven together to form a single epic adventure, The Iron Ghost is one tale that mostly concentrates on the three main characters; the mage, the knight, and the thief. Having defied death and pretty much saved the world, the three friends have begun to seek out new adventures. One seemingly simple task (to steal back a McGuffin that belonged to one civilisation from that society’s enemies) turns out to be far, far more complicated than they could ever imagine. Yet again the friends find themselves caught up in the affairs of demons and gods, with some politics and magic thrown in for good measure.

The Iron Ghost keeps a steady and frenetic pace throughout. Williams delivers raw fantasy adventure at a high speed, which is sure to keep you grinning from ear to ear throughout. The villains are nicely evil, the good guys are well intentioned but hardly perfect, and the monsters are appropriately horrible. Dark without being grim, magical without being cheesy, The Iron Ghost continues what The Copper Promise started by bringing back gravitas to the fantasy genre without having to be depressing.

They are some elements that don’t quite work; one of the subplots involves a rather drawn-out explanation of what happened to characters from the last book, and though it ends in a cool sort of way, it does over stay its welcome. The Iron Ghost also pretty much sticks to one geographical location, and though we get a lot of detail about this one region, those hoping for broader world-building will be disappointed.

Overall, The Iron Ghost is simply a cracking read and a good sign that Williams may very well be a force to be reckoned with in the fantasy genre.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: STAR WARS R2-D2’S DROID WORKSHOP / PUBLISHER: EGMONT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Here at last is an activity book that, whilst offering an interesting collection of puzzles and various stress-free tests of mental agility, also contains the component parts required to assemble a 20-inch model of R2-D2. And who wouldn’t want that?

If further justification for purchasing this piece of merchandise relating to everyone’s favourite droid were required then read on. It would be fair to say that the model itself is reasonably straightforward to construct for one adult, taking around 40 minutes of focussed construction time, and although a second pair of hands certainly makes the job easier they aren’t essential. For a child this may take a little longer depending on their relative precociousness, but on the whole it is a pleasant way to spend around an hour with the minimum of frustration. And then you will have your own little R2.

The puzzles themselves are perhaps aimed fairly low on the age range, with the standard being equivalent to what you would find in a seasonal annual of a favourite television programme. The addition of the model is clearly the selling point, and with anything Star Wars related growing in popularity exponentially this would be a terrific and inexpensive addition to any wannabe Jedi’s stocking. The quality of the model itself is very good and, while it wouldn’t necessarily stand up to too much vigorous usage and avoidance of fire is a must (as with most droids), it will certainly last through the holiday period and beyond. Amidst the mountains of Star Wars paraphernalia this is certainly one worth a look.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: INTERSTELLAR: BEYOND TIME AND SPACE / AUTHOR: MARK COTTA VAZ / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS/ RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Let’s be honest, there aren’t many films out there worthy of a £30 “making-of” book. However, Christopher Nolan’s epic Interstellar is one of those exceptions.

Mark Cotta Vaz specialises in film tie-in books, having covered Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, a history of the Batmobile, an examination of the Lucasfilm archives, and a great many more. We daresay his name will crop up on many a self-respecting genre film fan’s bookshelf. His writing is always well researched and insightful, so we know we’re in reliable hands with him at the helm of Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space.

Vaz in no way disappoints. The landscape format book is full of the facts and behind-the-scenes anecdotes you’d expect from this type of book, but there’s further insight into the hard science behind the concept from Kip Thorne, professor of theoretical physics, executive producer and creator of the concept of the film.

There are frank interviews with Christopher Nolan, Matthew McConaughey, and Ann Hathaway, but the real story is the hard work and determination it took to bring the film to the screen – and trust us, it’s a fascinating read. The book encompasses everything; from the initial idea, to the costuming, the music of Hans Zimmer, and the soaring imaginations that brought the various worlds and the Tesseract to life on the screen. Some of the magnificent concept paintings reproduced here alone are worth the cover price of the book.

In short, this is a sumptuous book, well worth the money and a sure-fire hit for the festive season if you’re short a gift for the sci-fi fan in your life – or if you’re just buying one for yourself. It’ll keep you going until the DVD release.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: ALIEN INVASION MANUAL / AUTHOR: SEAN T. PAGE / PUBLISHER: J. H. HAYNES & CO LTD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Sean T. Page has produced this latest Haynes Manual on behalf of the Ministry of Alien Defence. Sean is well qualified, having been abducted as a child and surviving the ordeal to gain a GCSE grade D in Physics. Alien Invasion Manual is a well-illustrated hardback that would sit well on the shelf of any underground alien resistance group member. It would also make a handy companion to other Haynes Manuals, such as the Zombie Survival Manual released in 2013.

The book covers a good range of useful topics, including an alien 101, a history of alien conflict (pre and post-World War II, protocols for first contact and alien combat suggestions grouped by the type of alien. There is also a section for military forces, betraying the books ministerial background. All the way through there are plenty of visuals and the topics are easy to study. The subjects are of necessity, covered briefly, and links to supporting websites would have been useful.

Not only is the book a good read but has two exams at the back, which will reinforce your home study, testing both basic and advanced level. There are also cut-out certificates that can be proudly displayed on the wall of your secret HQ.

No matter how good the manual, it can be no substitute for proper training, such as that offered by the Ministry of Alien Defence. That said, this book does give a good grounding for the would-be defender of humanity, giving many new uses for tinfoil and, as a last resort, is stout enough to act as a ray-gun shield in a last resort.

A recommended gift for all those with an eye to the skies this Christmas.

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BOOK REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE ADVENTURES OF LUKE SKYWALKER, JEDI KNIGHT / AUTHOR: TONY DITERLIZZI / ARTIST: RALPH MCQUARRIE / PUBLISHER: DISNEY LUCASFILM PRESS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

How do you take the original Star Wars trilogy, adapt it into a storybook for children, and still make it appealing to adults? Let’s face it, usually this kind of book would come with a simplified version of the films’ story and a few stills from the film that depict the action being described, and while they make for a fun read for kids, there is usually very little in there for the adults to get any real enjoyment out of.

In an attempt to address this issue, Egmont have replaced the stills with the Star Wars concept art by Ralph McQuarrie and beautifully presented it in this slim – but stunning – hardback book. Admittedly, the main draw of this book for most fans will be the art, and it is packed with McQuarrie’s art; his work looks stunning on the page and is only really let down by a few images being quite small, when I personally would have liked to have seen them in their full-page glory. That said though, there are other books on McQuarrie’s art that I can get to get my fix of that, so to criticise it for shrinking some of the images down to fit them into a children’s book seems a little redundant. This book is, after all, a storybook for children.

As an adult Star Wars fan, you may find the simplicity of the storytelling a little frustrating and dull at times. But for children, it’s a perfectly well-executed way of getting the basic story of the Star Wars trilogy across in much the same way you would probably recount the tale of Star Wars to your friends in the school playground when you were a child.

I read it at bedtime to my 5 year old son (who has never seen the Star Wars films) and he was enthralled by the story and the art. And that’s where the book really succeeds; in introducing a new audience to the story of Star Wars in a way that both entertains and engages.

If you’re looking for a book on McQuarrie’s art, this is a nice, affordable book if you’re just a casual buyer, but you may want to think about looking into some of the books that are dedicated just to his work instead. If you’re looking for a bedtime read for your kids that will both introduce them to the world of Star Wars and offer up some nice eye-candy for yourself, then you probably won’t do much better than this.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: SHERLOCK: CHRONICLES / AUTHOR: STEVE TRIBE / PUBLISHING: BBC BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Written by Steve Tribe, who has also penned several Doctor Who books including The Time Traveller’s Almanac, Companions and Allies and The TARDIS Handbook, this visually stunning and comprehensive guide to the hit television series Sherlock tells the behind the scenes story of how the addictive crime drama began and evolved over its first three series. Complete with a forward by Mark Gatiss, who co-created the series with Doctor Who producer and head writer Steven Moffat in 2010, the 320 pages are divided into 11 chapters that cover all aspects of making the series, from story and script development to casting, as well as sets, costumes, props, music, and visual effects.

Jam-packed with exclusive never before seen content – including brand new interviews with the writers, cast and crew – this in-depth collection looks at every episode of the ground-breaking series under a magnifying glass, from Benedict Cumberbatch’s first appearance as the reimagined version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective hero in A Study in Pink, to the cliff-hanger in the final episode of Series 3. There is also plenty of information for fans of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories written by Doyle over 40 years from 1887, mainly for The Strand Magazine. The development of the classic image of Holmes is considered as well as the classic films that shaped Moffat and Gatiss’s perception of the character. The casting of Holmes, Watson, and Moriarty are all examined and pages from the series Bible, written by Moffat and Gatiss, are even included for examination.

Boasting over 500 images of concept artwork, photographs, costume and set designs, this massive companion to the series is a must have for anyone who is a fan of Sherlock or writers Moffat and Gatiss.
 

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BOOK REVIEW: NOS4R2 / AUTHOR: JOE HILL / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

With his third and most ambitious novel, Joe Hill is well into his literary stride. One of the most self-assured writers of the bloated horror and dark fantasy genres, NOS4R2 is one of the most startlingly refreshing takes on the vampire story for years.

The story, one part barmy to two parts genius, follows Victoria ‘Vic’ McQueen, who has the inexplicable ability to find lost things. Far from the only one with an ability, Charlie Manx cruises in his Rolls Royce Wraith, emblazoned with the vanity plate NOS4R2, looking for children to take to Christmasland. Having escaped Manx as a child, Vic’s life is entwined with his.

A child molester is an obvious demon, though Hill does find new and gruesome ways to make your skin crawl. And yes, parts are very uncomfortable to read, with the affecting prose worming into your consciousness. Charlie is The Pied Piper, Child Catcher and Freddy Krueger all rolled up into one sadistic mix.

Vic is easily the most engaging protagonist of any of Hill’s novels and, focussing on her pre-adolescence, he gets to the heart of childhood mischief and wanderlust. With her Knight Rider obsession and the descriptions of sounds and smells, it’s incredibly heady and evocative. Going forward a few years, he captures all the rebellion of being a teen with a simple list of items found in Vic’s drawer.

Maggie is a marvellous character, one of the real standouts, a quirky librarian with a stutter and a penchant for scrabble. For geeky titbits, Lou is especially fun to read. Along with its do-gooders, there’s a host of vile creations. Bing is a particularly ghastly character, especially with his incestuous fascination with women.

Peppered with Hill’s trademarks, the novel is packed with dark satirical humour and experimentation with the chapter format. In this case it means many of the chapters continue into one another, headed up simply by locations.

There’s elements of Capote’s In Cold Blood, particularly in the chapters which report on the children’s disappearances, which sees Hill taking on a more distant, journalistic style. There’s even sly nods to Stephen King’s haunted Plymouth Fury and Christine. It’s well-paced, given its 700-page-plus length, but while compelling, the constant reminders of the pain in Vic’s left eye are cumbersome and feel patronising with their frequency.

Perhaps most excitingly are the subtle suggestions that this and Hill’s other works exist in a shared universe. If that’s the case, there’s plenty to look forward to. NOS4R2 is the latest from one of horror fiction’s modern provocateurs and isn’t to be missed.
 

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