Reading List: October

What have I been reading during October, you ask? Other than The Stand, you ask? Well, you came to the right place to find out.

The Diamond Age
This sci-fi book by Neal Stephenson was equal parts great, slow, boring, compelling, imaginative, random, and rewarding. It was a harder read that I'm used to, but I enjoyed it. It tells the story of a little girl, Nell, and how she is educated by an interactive book, The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. Stephenson gets lost in his detailed descriptions of the future world he depicts easily and frequently, but perseverance is a virtue, and I did enjoy the book.

Moving Pictures
This time, Terry Pratchett makes fun of moviemaking when a group of alchemists creates "moving pictures", thus inventing cinema. It is imaginative and wacky and absolutely hilarious, and I absolutely recommend it to everyone. Also, it is one of the series' standalone books, so you really don't need to have read any other DiscWorld novels to enjoy this one. In fact, this is the book in which Ridcully becomes Archchancellor of Unseen University, and Lord Vetinari's personality is barely fleshed out. This last aspect was quite strange, since I've gotten to love Vetinari and how devious and calculating Ankh-Morpork's Patrician really is. Seeing him like this, before becoming who he is, was like watching an episode from the first season of Buffy now: you recognize the character, but he is not the character he will become. Anyway, a fun, fun read!

Empire of Ivory
I already talked at length about the wonderful fourth book in the Temeraire series here, so go and revisit my rave review.

The Walking Dead, vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
The Walking Dead, vol. 2: Miles Behind Us
The Walking Dead, vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars
The Walking Dead, vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire
A friend let me borrow the first four TPBs of Robert Kirkman's famous zombie series, and I gotta say it lived up to the hype. The story follows a cop who wakes from a coma to discover the whole world has been ravaged by zombies. From there, he starts meeting survivors, and we witness their struggle to survive and get along while creating a new civilization. Oh, and there're lots of zombies being killed every now and then. The story is engrossing, the characters masterfully built, and the dialogue is exquisite. There is, however, a reason why I had never given the series a try before: the artwork really makes my eyes bleed. Amazing story, appalling pictures. I still recommend it, but I won't be spending any money on it.

Princess Resurrection, vol. 1
I guess the Halloween spirit possessed me, and I went ahead and bought the first volume of the manga known as Princess Resurrection (Monster Princess in its anime incarnation). The series, written and drawn by Yasunori Mitsunaga, tells the story of Princess Hime, who can bring people back from the dead, and who lives with her little and super strong android girl Flandre and her semi-immortal servant Hiro, a teenager who becomes semi-immortal after dying in the first few pages of the book. From here, it's Hime toting around her chainsaw and killing invisible men, werewolves, and other creatures. Sounds bloody and creepy and weird? Well, it's also quite funny!