Monday, November 28, 2016

Reviewing the Mail: Week of 11/26

Those of us in the US of A are just coming out of a weekend-long food coma, raising our heavy heads, and looking around bleary-eyed to see if the world is still there. And then a Monday hits us, right when we're not expecting it. (If you think we'd be more prepared after a four day weekend, you don't know Americans.)

But at least I can offer you a few books -- books are quiet and friendly, unlike the outside world or those people you work with. These three came in my mail last week -- I don't know much about them, but let's take a look, shall we?

First up is a story collection by South African novelist Lauren Beukes: Slipping. It collects twenty-one stories -- some of them quite short, as you might guess -- along with five non-fiction pieces and a Glossary for those who are not au courant with SA slang. It's available right now in trade paperback from Tachyon.

From Yen Press -- their Yen On imprint, and that distinction I have to admit I don't entirely understand -- comes Goblin Slayer, Vol. 1, a light novel by Kumo Kagyu with illustrations by Noboru Kannatuki. It seems to be set in a RPG-ish world, focusing on a young Priestess joining a party of dungeon-crawlers for the first time. This particular party contains the title character, the usual enigmatic figure clad in dark armor with a quixotic obsession -- his is slaughtering every last goblin, as you can guess from his name -- and that presumably leads to complications.

And last for this week is a big manga volume: Blame! Master Edition, Vol. 2 by Tsutomu Nihei. I didn't see the first volume, and this one doesn't have any description -- literally the only thing on the cover other than title and author is "Toha Heavy Industries Manga Production Division," which I think is the author's puckish name for his studio -- can I can tell you it's about a robot girl who fights creepier robots in an at least mildly post-apocalyptic future. This one if from Vertical.

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