The newest Amazon haul: reviews

Tanz Der Vampire: Highlights

I guess it's a moot point to review this, since it;d just consist of me squeeing loudly. But for what it's worth, I like this version better than the two-CD one I have in mp3 – there's practically no talking, which allows me to play everything back-to-back. The only part I do miss is the choral verse at the end of Gott Ist Tot. I might end up making my own Vampire mix CD, or maybe just a showtunes one.

Jill Thompson's Dead Boy Detectives

This is another sugar-shock über-shoujo Sandman amerimanga tie-in, and I like it almost as much as I did At Death's Door. Murder mystery, international all-girls school, and of course the boys have to spend almost the whole book in Catholic schoolgirl drag >:) Jill's manga drawing skills have improved since the last volume, especially when it comes to composition. About the only gripe I have is that the resolution is a little weak, but some things make up for it (Ozzy!), and altogether this is the prettiest, sweetest shoujo thing you could hope to find under the tree this Winterfest. Also, no knowledge of Sandman canon necessary, since the relevant Edwin-and-Charles bit of At Death's Door is included at the end.

Movies in Fifteen Minutes, by Cleolinda Jones

It’s no secret that I fangirl cleolinda, and especially her movie parodies – who can not love the woman who gave us "Cousin. Totally cousin. In conclusion: cousin", or "Hector Smash!"? At under 10 euro for a hardback copy, the book was an absolute steal, especially for the Braveheart and Matrix parodies. And the vengeful dolphins on the Titanic ♥

One major point though: comparing the online and published parodies, it would appear that publishing restrictions meant that almost all references to slash have been removed, except for a few mentions regarding Samwise Gamgee (because, man). I cannot believe she'd miss something like Frodo and Sam at the end of all things, and half the audience going "kiss him already!". Poodoo.

Woken Furies, by Richard Morgan

I adore Richard Morgan for one reason: he writes about people driven by fury and bitterness and still hanging on to ideals, and he makes them seem human. The anger, the sense of detachment, the easy slipping into roles and masks as he watches from the back of his brain – Takeshi Kovacs is disturbingly close to a male version of yours truly. That's also the reason I was very wary of the book where he would meet Quellcrist Falconer, the source of his ideals, the woman who wrote the words he took as his gospel and his crie de guerre.

( Quellcrist Falconer: Make it personal )

But I shouldn't have worried. It all makes perfect sense – Takeshi's journey, his issues, the culmination of all that happpened in Altered Carbon and Broken Angels, Sarah and Virginia Vidaura and Quellcrist Falconer as his triple goddess and guardian angel trinity. It works, and for that, my respect to Monsieur Morgan.

But if he writes another Kovacs book, I may have to track him down and kill him.

Miscellany

Apart from that, I still have From Eroica With Love to read, since I thought it wiser not to take it to work today ;) The Female Parental Unit also ordered a CD by Pierce Turner – rather nice Irish pop/folk with a simple beat and a lilting melody, Roxy Music's greatest hits, which cause me to break out in a rash, and Bryan Ferry’s swing solo album, which is surprisingly good in a crooning lounge singer way. Not a bad thing to have playing in the background.

In other news, I slept a total of 3 hours today. I usually take Diphergan, an antihistamine that causes drowsinesss, to help me sleep at times like these, but this time no luck. I'll try chamomile tea today, but if anyone has any other suggestions on how to beat insomnia, I'll be eternally grateful, because I'm this close to having hallucinations...