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kangeikoI completely forgot about this book! I read it a few weeks ago, and it was rather fun & groovy.
Title:Scurvy
by: Stephen R. Bown
page count: 263 pages.
Now, this was a fun book. You know those 'popular science' books you get? This was a 'popular science history' book, or thereabouts. It wasn't so much about the discovery of what scurvy was, and how to cure it, as an exploration of the reasons why, everytime the cause and cure for scurvy were discovered, they kept being forgotten or ignored.
It also covers a few notable battles, and talks about the part that scurcy (or lack thereof) played in the final victory. Don't believe me? One half of all sailors who sailed before scurvy was cured in the British Empire died from it. It accounted for over 90% of all deaths at sea... and was the reason that Napoleon was unable to invade Britain (the French ships had scurvy, the British didn't).
It's nice and short, and although it does tend to repeat itself quite a bit, you can whizz through it quite nicely.
I also read #1 - #21 of Astonishing X-Men. (I'm at home & snuffly, can you tell?)
I like the new kid. (Hisako?) She is funny. I also like Kitty Pryde, which is weird, 'cause I thought I'd hate her. You know who I didn't like? Emma Frost. Hear me out. Whedon's Emma Frost seems to be suffering from the Jean Grey symptom of All About Eve, which makes her very difficult to care about. There's only so much time you can spend posing in a corset and looking inscrutable, while stating, quite calmly, something terribly, terribly emotional. Yes, we know that she's brick hard and all that, and that she doesn't like to display her emotions. But if she doesn't actually crack an expression soon, I will, in fact, kill her.
Scott has grown on me, and Logan is still my favourite snuggle-bunny. Even more so after he turned into a small child. Hee! "And I grew claws, and that woman forgot her skirt and I could see her undercurve!" - awww, bless!
Hank - oooh, Hank! I must fic Hank's fear of devolution, because that would be v. scary for me. yes. Possibly silly for everyone else, but I don't care.
I am not a fan of the creation of 'Danger' as a character. It just seems to me that they've run out of credible villains, so they've had to start inventing inanimate objects as a threat. What next - revenge of the toasters? The house hits back?
Loved the little references to Magneto. Btw, wtf is Xavier doing at genosha? they go there, fight Danger, and then leave him behind? Is he eating dirt? yeah, they're pissed at him, but why did no one check to make sure that he wasn't seriously hurt? c'mon, people!
The dead kid (Wing) was properly scary. The supervillain alien was not.
Also, they need to do more with the other characters. Emma Frost's angsting does not an entire series make. Can we have Dr Rai back now, please? xthnkbye.
So, yeah. I sorta liked it, but sorta didn't. We'll see.
Vaguely amusing sidebar - I'm going to a few talks at the British Museum over the next few weeks, and they're being carried out by a Professor Xavier. I laughed myself silly over that. :)
Title:Scurvy
by: Stephen R. Bown
page count: 263 pages.
Now, this was a fun book. You know those 'popular science' books you get? This was a 'popular science history' book, or thereabouts. It wasn't so much about the discovery of what scurvy was, and how to cure it, as an exploration of the reasons why, everytime the cause and cure for scurvy were discovered, they kept being forgotten or ignored.
It also covers a few notable battles, and talks about the part that scurcy (or lack thereof) played in the final victory. Don't believe me? One half of all sailors who sailed before scurvy was cured in the British Empire died from it. It accounted for over 90% of all deaths at sea... and was the reason that Napoleon was unable to invade Britain (the French ships had scurvy, the British didn't).
It's nice and short, and although it does tend to repeat itself quite a bit, you can whizz through it quite nicely.
I also read #1 - #21 of Astonishing X-Men. (I'm at home & snuffly, can you tell?)
I like the new kid. (Hisako?) She is funny. I also like Kitty Pryde, which is weird, 'cause I thought I'd hate her. You know who I didn't like? Emma Frost. Hear me out. Whedon's Emma Frost seems to be suffering from the Jean Grey symptom of All About Eve, which makes her very difficult to care about. There's only so much time you can spend posing in a corset and looking inscrutable, while stating, quite calmly, something terribly, terribly emotional. Yes, we know that she's brick hard and all that, and that she doesn't like to display her emotions. But if she doesn't actually crack an expression soon, I will, in fact, kill her.
Scott has grown on me, and Logan is still my favourite snuggle-bunny. Even more so after he turned into a small child. Hee! "And I grew claws, and that woman forgot her skirt and I could see her undercurve!" - awww, bless!
Hank - oooh, Hank! I must fic Hank's fear of devolution, because that would be v. scary for me. yes. Possibly silly for everyone else, but I don't care.
I am not a fan of the creation of 'Danger' as a character. It just seems to me that they've run out of credible villains, so they've had to start inventing inanimate objects as a threat. What next - revenge of the toasters? The house hits back?
Loved the little references to Magneto. Btw, wtf is Xavier doing at genosha? they go there, fight Danger, and then leave him behind? Is he eating dirt? yeah, they're pissed at him, but why did no one check to make sure that he wasn't seriously hurt? c'mon, people!
The dead kid (Wing) was properly scary. The supervillain alien was not.
Also, they need to do more with the other characters. Emma Frost's angsting does not an entire series make. Can we have Dr Rai back now, please? xthnkbye.
So, yeah. I sorta liked it, but sorta didn't. We'll see.
Vaguely amusing sidebar - I'm going to a few talks at the British Museum over the next few weeks, and they're being carried out by a Professor Xavier. I laughed myself silly over that. :)
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Date: 2007-07-11 02:50 pm (UTC)Looks like you've only read AXM 1-12, though? Because 13-18, the "Torn" arc, aren't just about what makes Emma tick but the other characters as well, and bring back one of the big villains of the comics, Cassandra Nova.
I don't find Emma inscrutable at all, but then, she's my favourite character...
"Unstoppable", the next arc, has lots of Agent Brand (whom I love, and who like Hisako and Dr. Raj is a Joss creation) and picks up the Breakworld stuff in a major way.
Dr. Raj, I fear, won't be back, for a simple reason: the big Marvel events, House of M and Civil War, made it next to impossible for Joss to continue with a Cure-follow up. Downside of writing in someone else's fictional universe...
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Date: 2007-07-11 03:14 pm (UTC)NO WAY. That is all kinds of awesome! I guess I'm off to dig up excalibur, then... (And what's House of M? I have some stuff on Jamie Maddox - the Peter David series - that's supposed to follow that, but no-one's told me what it is!)
Looks like you've only read AXM 1-12, though? Because 13-18, the "Torn" arc, aren't just about what makes Emma tick but the other characters as well, and bring back one of the big villains of the comics, Cassandra Nova.
Nope, I read through up to #21... but the Cassandra Nova arc seemed to spend a great deal of its time angsting over Emma's thoughts and actions without showing them to us. There were four issues of not cracking an expression. I kept skipping ahead to the Kitty & Peter bits, which made it tolerable but, honestly, it was like a cross between evil!willow and dark!phoenix. While I do love the idea of Emma, I'm finding it really difficult to get behind this particular version of her. It smacks a little too much of Mary Sue-isms - she's perfect and gorgeous, and SO hard done by, won't they all be sorry when she's dead, oh noes! Etc. I mean, I know she has emotions. I'd just like to see then, rather than having them be narrated...
I think the real problem with the 'Torn' arc (for me, at least) was that I'd never even heard of Cassandra Nova until that point, so all of a sudden I had no prior knowledge and all the info was coming from Emma, was all about Emma, and everyone was deciding what to do about Emma, and her doppel-dangers. After a while, I just lost interest. It might have been different if I understood Nova beyond what Emma told us, mind you...
I don't find Emma inscrutable at all, but then, she's my favourite character...
Whoops! *bashful look* Um, well, we were bound to disagree on something eventually!
"Unstoppable", the next arc, has lots of Agent Brand
Yeah, I quite liked her (green hair notwithstanding). But, again, I wasn't too happy with the aliens bit, so - basically, it felt like there were some good characters, but they didn't really have rounded villains to play off against. It could be that I'm spoiled with Magneto and with the rest of humanity (oh, please, bring back the Cure storyline!!) - and I am dying to catch up on the Sentinels stuff - but resorting to aliens etc on a different planet always lowers the stakes for me. I mean, you could blow the entire thing up, and it wouldn't matter to Earth. Furthermore, this particular planet is especially unsympathetic, as even the children are filled with the urge to kill and maim and destroy - remember that little boy pointing at Peter and shouting 'kill it!'? I can see that they're going to 'humanise' them - the hospitals and the rest of it - but that, to me, smacks of the 'noble savage' idea, and the power of 'civilising' them by bringing them humanity, which just doesn't appeal.
Dr. Raj, I fear, won't be back, for a simple reason: the big Marvel events, House of M and Civil War, made it next to impossible for Joss to continue with a Cure-follow up.
What happened in the house of m and civil war stuff??? I know NOTHING and refuse to spend £9486748567567062 buying all of the comic books....
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Date: 2007-07-11 04:46 pm (UTC)What happened in the house of m and civil war stuff??? I know NOTHING and refuse to spend £9486748567567062 buying all of the comic books....
ZOMG, how long do you want to be here? *g* The very short answer is that most of the world's mutants have been stripped of their powers, so the cure issue is moot for the moment. However, Dr. Rao has shown up briefly in some recent comics, and might become prominent again. Who knows?
While I do love the idea of Emma, I'm finding it really difficult to get behind this particular version of her. It smacks a little too much of Mary Sue-isms - she's perfect and gorgeous, and SO hard done by, won't they all be sorry when she's dead, oh noes
Ok, first, Emma as Jean's Eve Harrington makes me giggle (or is she Margo here? Or maybe the second Mrs. DeWinter?)
Second, would you believe me if I told you that Joss's Emma is probably the least Mary-Sueish version of the character I've ever read? (In canon -- there is actually a lot of great fic about Emma that actually explores all of her layers; here's my crack_van rec (http://community.livejournal.com/crack_van/2138747.html) of a piece by
Third, this is kind of a weird conversation for me to have, because Emma tends to be extremely popular among people who like the AXM series. I tend to like her, personally, a lot less than the majority of the fandom does (I'm a major Jean partisan, especially the Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison versions of the character, so that definitely does influence my view) -- so anyway, I usually tend to be more in the anti- camp, and I definitely see where you're coming from. But I do generally like the portrayal of Emma in this series, and I think it's more multi-sided than it might originally appear. Selena did a great essay on Emma in the first three volumes, which I imagine she'll link you two, so I'll just give my own more general reviews:
On 'Gifted' (http://likeadeuce.livejournal.com/673202.html).
On 'Torn' (http://likeadeuce.livejournal.com/674459.html)
(And incidentally, the Morrison guy that we all keep referring to is Grant Morrison, who wrote the main X-men title for several years before Joss took over, and introduced several elements including Cassandra Nova and the Scott/Emma affair, and then killed Jean, like any X-writer is apparently contractually obliged to do at some point. I personally dislike most of the characterization in the Morrison series a lot, so I'm hesitant to rec it, but it does give you a lot of the background that Whedon is working from.)
Incidentally, the middle 'Danger Room' arc is almost universally considered the weakest part of Whedon's run -- though I actually kind of like it. I just didn't get around to reviewing it.
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Date: 2007-07-11 07:34 pm (UTC)most of the world's mutants have been stripped of their powers, so the cure issue is moot for the moment.
OK, do any of the X-Men lose their powers? Or is it just lesser mutants ie people losing their powers for dramatic effect, or does it have actual consequences? (and what does house of m refer to?)
Second, would you believe me if I told you that Joss's Emma is probably the least Mary-Sueish version of the character I've ever read?
Hmmm. Thinking on it, this might be the first version I've read where she's not the villain, which might explain a lot. As in, I'm familiar with the character, and I like her, but I've never read her, if you see what I mean. So maybe my expectations of how she'd be written were off...
And thanks for the links, I'll check them out!
(And incidentally, the Morrison guy that we all keep referring to is Grant Morrison, who wrote the main X-men title for several years before Joss took over,
Oh, yeah, I know Morrison! The Invisibles, right? Yeah, I realised that my flatmate had the entirety of his run and went off and read it. I liked his treatment (of plot, if not necessarily all characterisation) a lot more, it has to be said. I think my main problem with the Whedon version wasn't so much Emma's characterisation, per se, but the focus being Emma Emma Emma - kitty kitty - Emma Emma all the time. I've never really read Kitty pryde before, so she's still vaguely interesting for me, but the relentless hard-on he seems to have for focusing every single storyline and twist and character opinion on Emma Frost is really starting to get to me. I mean, I read the old-school X-Men, and that was - the phoenix storylines aside - much more ensemble pieces. Sure, there were strong characters, but AXM seems to be 'The Continuing Romps of The Divine Emma Frost (With Bonus Shagging Kitties)'... which - harsh, yeah, but... I dunno. Everyone kept really building this up and up, so when I finally started reading it, I was really disappointed.
I personally dislike most of the characterization in the Morrison series a lot, so I'm hesitant to rec it, but it does give you a lot of the background that Whedon is working from.)
Really? I find that, the adultery triangle aside - which was particularly skanky, I grant you - the rest of the X-Men seemed a lot more rounded than in Whedon's version. Logan and the children particularly.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 10:21 pm (UTC)The fact that you were capable of reading all of the Morrison run in a relatively short time period probably means that you and I shouldn't even talk about it. Now I absolutely love Morrison's Jean Grey, but otherwise, I broke up with the series at the point that Scott said his marriage was in trouble because his wife wore rollneck sweaters. The rest of the series I didn't so much read as glared at, and it's hard to actually take anything in with that much hate going out. So. umm. Not exactly an objective observer.
That said, I still wouldn't say that Whedon's run is all about Emma (though I do think her character is the biggest problem that he had to solve, taking up where he did). I thought Hank and Logan were both very well, very roundly characterized in the first volume, at least. And I tend to think that the whole thing is actually all about Scottt, but there probably is some bias creeping in there.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-12 01:01 am (UTC)Re: Hank and the cure, fic (http://c-elisa.livejournal.com/34868.html) by
Also, about the decimation and power loss, it's been handled pretty unevenly, with most of the 'first tier' mutants keeping their powers. House of M = crazy AU created by Wanda Maximoff. Wikipedia is probably your best bet on this.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-13 10:42 am (UTC)If you're read Morrison by now, you know about Cassandra Nova. (BTW, I've got the same problem with Morrsion 'deuce does.)
Emma: I'll just point you to my essay on Emma's arc (http://selenak.livejournal.com/253911.html), because it pretty much sums up why I think Joss' take on her is awesome (especially compared to what came before).
no subject
Date: 2007-07-11 04:48 pm (UTC)(I made a few comments below re: the series overall, though I figured I'd mostly let you handle the Emma angle *g*)