Required Reading: The Zombie Hunters, by Jenny Romanchuk

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday of Halloween, I have decided to review a webcomic which has recently been introduced to me by a friend of mine. Although there are only about three hundred comics out right now, I like what has been written so far an think that the series has great potential from what I've seen. Like many zombie stories, The Zombie Hunters takes place after the outbreak of the virus and focuses on the humans trying to survive in a world populated almost entirely by zombies. While some might say that it is just another zombie story among hundreds, I think it does a couple of unique things very well.

The plot of The Zombie Hunters is divided between two locations: the Wastelands and the Argus Research Campus. The Argus Research Campus (ARC) is an isolated island with a state of the art disease research facility built before the virus outbreak. Their current goal is to find a cure for the zombie outbreak, and while they have not found one yet, they have promising advances towards a cure. The rest of the island provides a safe home for survivors of the zombie apocalypse who are slowly putting society back together. The Wastelands are the areas on the mainland populated by hordes of zombies and avoided by the surviving humans if they can help it. However, teams of Zombie Hunters occasionally go into the Wastes to scavenge necessary materials for the ARC.

Another thing I really like about this series is how they handle infection in humans. If you come into contact with zombie blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids you become infected with the virus but do not turn into a zombie until you die. Infected humans can also pass the infection to uninfected humans through exchange of bodily fluids, but they cannot be infected again by zombies so they frequently form the zombie hunter teams that go out into the Wastelands. However, if either an infected or uninfected human gets bitten by a zombie they will die and be reanimated as a zombie. Because infected humans carry the risk of infecting other humans, as well as the risk of becoming a zombie if they die, they spend their entire lives isolated in a separate compound on the ARC island and are identified by special badges and armbands. As a result, the infected are often treated as second-class-citizens in the culture of the island and results in tension between the two groups. Although there have only been a few times when Jenny has addressed this issue in her comic, I look forward to more exploration of it in the future.

Another thing I appreciate about this series is how much thought the author seems to have put into this series beforehand. There is a small encyclopedia located on the comic's site which gives information about different types of zombies, the characters, locations, and how the virus works. Much of this information has not yet been explained in the comic and provides helpful background. Furthermore the fact that this information is already out there tells me that Jenny has a definite plan of what she wants to do with the comic and I always appreciate that in a series.

Finally, The Zombie Hunters has plenty of zombie-slaying action, masterfully interwoven with the issues of surviving after the end. I look forward to seeing where this series goes in the future and recommend everyone go and check it out. I'm going to give it four and a half sheep based on what she's produced so far rather than the potential. I feel like we're still building up to a larger story so it hasn't earned a five yet, however I can easily see it doing that in the future. The Zombie Hunters updates regularly on Mondays and sometimes on Thursday and can be found here.

BAK

Required Reading: Terry Pratchett's Discworld

Now, my two readers, as well as Katie and Sharon, have been wondering where I've been hiding for the past month. Well, I've been finishing the Discworld novels I have not yet read in anticipation for the newest book, Snuff, which comes out this October. As my two readers probably remember, I am a huge fan of the Discworld series by British author Sir Terry Pratchett. "But Kalpar!" you are probably exclaiming, because you love exclaiming that, "What is this Discworld series all about?" Well, it's kind of hard to answer, but I'm certainly going to give it my best.

The first thing you need to know about Discworld is that it takes place on the Disc, a perfectly flat circle of a planet which rests on the backs of four elephants. The four elephants, in turn, stand on the back of a ten thousand mile long turtle called the Great A'Tuin who swims through space. Why A'Tuin does this no one knows, but Sir Terry Pratchett says it looks vaguely hopeful, so I guess it will all turn out okay. From this description alone you've probably surmised that Discworld is no ordinary place, and this is true. The second thing you need to know about Discworld is that it is a series of books written by Sir PTerry (as the fans call him) and the first novel, The Colour Of Magic (Discworld Novel), was written in 1983. On average, Sir PTerry has managed to write one Discworld novel per year since 1983, and he is still writing them. As a result Discworld has become a wide and varied setting with many many characters, some of whom have gone through incredible development. For a newcomer, the challenge of finding where to begin can be daunting, however hopefully my insight will help you enter the wonderful magical Discworld.

In the beginning, Discworld was a parody of fantasy stories.The Colour Of Magic (Discworld Novel) introduced us to Rincewind, a wizard who cannot do any magic, and Twoflower, the Disc's first tourist. Sir Pterry deconstructed traditional fantasy ideas such as magic swords, barbarian heroes, and trolls to create the unique flavor of Discworld. However, the series did not stop as a parody. Over the years it has grown into a vehicle for Sir Pterry to satirize our own world and talk about a wide range of issues. Small Gods and Hogfather deal with matters of religion and belief. In Jingo (Discworld) and Monstrous Regiment Sir Pterry satirizes war, and in Reaper Man Sir Pterry explores human mortality itself. Yes, these can be heavy issues, but even in the darkest of Discworld novels Sir Pterry manages to make jokes that are funny and appropriate for the book. The thing I love most about Discworld is that his books have the power to make you laugh and think at the same time. Yes, it may be popular mass print media, but I consider it literary gold nonetheless.

Broadly speaking, the Discworld novels can be divided into six categories. The first are five groups of characters that are the focus of the book, and the last category are the stand alone novels.

1. Rincewind and the Wizards: First appearing in Colour of Magic, the Wizards of Unseen University start out as a competitive group where the only means of promotion is assassination. With the arrival of Archchancellor Ridcully, things settle down and the wizards of UU actually begin to...well wizard. Rincewind, the world's most incompetent wizard, frequently finds himself in adventures he'd rather not have. They're a great parody of academics and bureaucrats everywhere, but know more about how the Disc works than you might initially think.
2. The Lancre Witches: Although Granny Weatherwax first appeared in Equal Rites, she's not fully developed as a character until Wyrd Sisters or Witches Abroad. The other members of the Lancre coven are Magrat Garlick and Nanny Ogg. Far more practical-minded than the staff of Unseen University, the Lancre witches take a very direct approach to adventures that come their way.
3. Death: Yes, the Grim Reaper himself. Death has the honor of being the only character to appear in every single Discworld novel, but he has been the main character in a number of his own novels. Furthermore, Sir Pterry makes Death a very likable character. He likes humans and doesn't bear them any ill-will. In fact he's gone out of his way to protect them from other forces that don't like humans. To quote Sir Pterry, "Not a bad chap when you get to know him (and sooner or later everyone gets to know him)."
4. The Ankh-Morpork City Watch: This is my favorite group of characters, probably because the majority of focus is on Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch. He's a man who believes in the law above all else and does everything he can to enforce it, within certain restrictions. As Vimes himself says, you can't go around being a good guy if you do bad guy things, and I really respect that. For those of you that are familiar with the term "Lawful Good" Vimes is practically its human manifestation, and I absolutely love it. Over the course of the Watch novels Vimes has managed to turn the organization around from the laughingstock of Ankh-Morpork to the most respected and famous police force on the Disc.
5. Moist von Lipwig: A relatively recent character that Sir Pterry introduced because he had the idea of a former con man who was basically a good guy. Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork gives Moist a second chance at life and has him take over the derelict Ankh-Morpork City Post Office. Moist's adventures are a fascinating commentary on the modern world, and at least one more novel has been promised detailing his adventures.
6. Stand-alone novels: These novels focus on a group of characters not listed above and unlike the groups above have only had one novel about them specifically. Members of the other five groups might have a cameo, but the book is not about them.

Now, you're probably wondering "Do I have to begin at the very start to get into Discworld?" The answer is no. While the books mostly follow one after the other chronologically, it is not necessary to read the books in order. It certainly helps, but Sir PTerry has written the series so you can read any of the books in any order you wish. Each novel has a self-contained story which is resolved by the end. Furthermore, I suggest you actually do not begin with Colour of Magic. The starting books of the series are not bad, I just feel that they lack a certain finished quality I see in the later books. As can be expected, Sir Pterry has developed as an author over time and I think he was still just finding his voice in the early books.

"But Kalpar!" You are probably exclaiming right now, "If I shouldn't start with Colour of Magic, which book should I start with?" Well, in my opinion there are three good books that introduce you to the series. If you want to be introduced to the Lancre witches, I suggest you start with Witches Abroad. It's not the first Lancre Witches books, but it's one of my favorites and more importantly introduces you to some very important concepts about Discworld. If you're interested in meeting Sam Vimes and the City Watch first, I suggest you begin with Guards! Guards!. This is the first novel with the then Ankh-Morpork Night Watch it introduces you to Vimes, Carrot, Corporal Nobby Nobbs and Sergeant Fred Colon, and also serves as a great introduction to the overall world of Discworld as well. My final suggestion for novels to introduce you to Discworld is Small Gods. Small Gods is a stand-alone novel and was my own personal introduction to Discword. It's very easy to get into, and I think it does a great job of explaining the world of the Disc, so it's a great choice to begin.

Now, hopefully I haven't spewed too much information on you, but I'm going to add one final piece. Out of all the books in the series, so far I have two favorites: Night Watch and Thud!. Both of these novels are Watch books, and I think that they show Sam Vimes at his very best as a character. We get to look deep inside Vimes and see why he believes what he believes, and perhaps more importantly the code that he holds himself to. I find them really great explorations of Vimes's character and will probably remain my favorite books for a long long time.

I hope that somewhere in this long post I've convinced some of you to pick up a Discworld novel if you haven't already. Stay alert for my review of Snuff when it comes out this October!

BAK

Required Reading: Girl Genius

Today I'm going to do something a little different and introduce "Required Reading", an idea I've been toying around with for a while now. Basically this is where I introduce you to books or comics that if you aren't reading already you totally should be. This is the stuff I consider to be the best of the best folks.

To start Required Reading I want to introduce you all to a webcomic/comic series very near and dear to my heart, Girl Genius. Now is also an optimal time to mention this series because Phil and Kaja Foglio (along with their colorist Cheyenne Wright) have received their third Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. In a row. For those of you that don't know, the Hugo Awards are basically the Academy Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy writers. And for the three years Graphic Story has been a category, Girl Genius has won every time. This is some serious stuff, people.

Okay, now I know what you're thinking. You're probably wondering if the hype is really worth it. Sure they got a bunch of Hugo Awards, but what is Girl Genius really about? Well I'm glad you asked that question. In a nutshell, Girl Genius is defined as, "Mad scientists rule the world, badly."

To clarify, the world of Girl Genius takes place sometime in the 19th century on an alternate Earth. In this world there are certain individuals known as "sparks" who are brilliant, brilliant scientists and have come up with giant airships, wonderful mechanical devices called clanks, and hundreds if not thousands of other crazy discoveries. The main problem though is that with great brilliance comes great insanity. Sparks have a rather distressing tendency of laughing maniacally and becoming determined to rule the world. A sort of, "I'll show them! I'LL SHOW ALL OF THEM!" mentality. As you can probably guess this does not form a very stable system of government. In fact probably the only reason sparks are in charge at all is because they have the biggest death rays around. For much of its history, the world of Girl Genius has been utter political turmoil as mighty spark families fight for control of the world. However in recent times the Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, with his mighty armies and fleets of airships, has established the Pax Transylvania and established some semblance of overall order to Europa. However the fragile peace may soon be overturned by one girl, Agatha Heterodyne, heir to the famous (or more accurately infamous) Heterodyne family, thought to be extinct with the disappearance of the famous Heterodyne boys, Bill and Barry.

Okay, as you can probably tell from that last paragraph, the world building is fantastic in this series. And if there's one thing I love, it's world building. The sheer amount of thought and planning that went into this series really shows and makes this one of my favorite series to read. I actually got to meet Phil and Kaja Foglio, the creators of this series, at Ohayocon back in January and learned a lot about the inner workings of this comic. Basically before they even began drawing Girl Genius, they sat down and wrote out the entire plot to their story. They know exactly what's going to happen with the story, what they want to do with it, what characters they need. The planning and forethought is truly superb and little details you might miss earlier in the comic become major plot points later on, which makes re-reading this series an absolute delight.

Now giant airships, mad scientists, and awesome adventures are good enough for me, but Katie and Sharon are probably asking, "What's in it for us?" Well, there is a romance plot that also is part of the overall narrative. It's a little heavy in the first couple of books to the point I personally find it annoying, but I'm sure Katie and Sharon would eat it up. Sorry girls, no smut though. This comic is 100% classy.

If you're a fan of steampunk, or want to find a way to be introduced to steampunk, Girl Genius is a great story on that aspect alone. Technically Kaja calls it a "Gaslamp Fantasy" but I'm willing to risk the ire of the Internet and put it in the broad category of steampunk just based on the technological aspect. If you end up liking the setting of Girl Genius, with its mad scientists, airships, and clockwork contraptions, you may want to look into other steampunk works.

I know I've gushed a lot about this series, but I do have some final comments. Perhaps the thing I love most about Girl Genius is the characters who really help drive the series. Even the characters playing second fiddle to our beloved sparks are absolutely great and stand out in their own little way. Every character we've met has a reason for being in this story and doesn't feel superfluous. I'll provide a short list of my favorite supporting characters because the sparks get enough love already.

1. Airman Third Class Axel "The Unstoppable" Higgs. We have yet to find out who, or perhaps more importantly what, Airman Higgs is, but the Foglios have assured me that he has an important part in the plot. What we do know is that nothing can stop Higgs. Nothing. I eagerly await more information about Higgs and his overall role in the story, because if he's there, he's there for a damn good reason.
2. The Jagermonsters. The Jagers used to be foot soldiers for the Heterodynes, but are currently employed by Wulfenbach since the Heterodynes disappeared. With Agatha Heterodyne emerging, the Jagers are going to become less reliable allies and put Klaus into a very dangerous situation. As a whole the Jagers are a fun-loving psychotic bunch who I have fun reading about. However there is a really important reason I like the Jagers. Hats are serious business for them. You never see a Jager without his hat, it's just a rule. For those of you that don't know, I'm really serious about my hats too so they really struck a chord with me.
3. Captain Bangladesh Dupree. Oh boy, where to start with Dupree? Basically Dupree is completely and utterly psychotic and takes joy in the senseless killing Baron Wulfenbach employs her for. Basically sometimes Klaus needs someone with no morals to get a job done, and for that he calls in Dupree. Not to imply that Dupree takes herself seriously. Oh no, she has some really good jokes and can be a fun character, even if she's psychotic. And honestly, I think we all wish on the inside we could be as uninhibited as Dupree at times, just to show the world.

Okay, I think I talked for far too long about this series, so I'll summarize really quick. Girl Genius is a strong plot-driven story with fantastic characters and a great setting. The jokes are plentiful as well, and the little details make it well worth re-reading. If you're a fan of steampunk, or looking for a way to get into steampunk, Girl Genius simply cannot be ignored. The comic in its entirety can be read for free here. Or, as always, volumes of the book can be purchased through Amazon.com Girl Genius, Vol. 1: Agatha Heterodyne and The Beetleburg Clank (See all Fantasy Graphic Novels)

Overall I give the series a well-deserved Five Sheep.

BAK

Adventurer's Rule #1: Any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.