A thief, a monster slayer and more: books read

Maurice LeBlacn’s ARSENE LUPIN is the first story collection of the early 20th century gentleman thief, and ancestor of anime’s Lupin III. Lupin was a seamstress’ son who paid back his mother’s cruel employers by stealing their most valuable possession (as disclosed in one story); now he’s an elegant and selective (he leaves a note in one mansion that he’ll return when the antiques are real ones) master criminal who can pull a robbery from inside prison and match wits with Sherlock Holmes (edited to Herlock Sholmes after Doyle complained) though that’s an underwhelming story. Overall, Lupin is readable, way more so than Master of Mysteries or the British gentleman thief Raffles, but like so many detective stories of that era, lacks the magic Doyle gave to Sherlock Holmes. For the record, Lupin III is certainly a worthy successor to his grandfather’s skills but so scruffy and uncouth I suspect Arsene would be rolling his eyes.

TRAIL OF LIGHTNING: The Sixth World Book One by Rebecca Roanhorse is set on Navajo land after floods from global warming (or as the name of the series suggests, anative American apocalypse ushering in a new world) have left the region isolated and free but swarming with monsters. Protagonist Maggie is a metahuman monster hunter, former protege of a demigod, now charged with investigating why homunculi are showing up and attacking people and having to do so in the company of the Most Obnoxious, Most Irritating Man She’s Ever Met.

The setting was great and Maggie’s one of the better emotionally scarred characters I’ve read in recent years. However, as one online review put it, most of the book is side quests and subplots rather than tackling the supposed big threat; when they confront it at the climax everything feels rushed and not entirely logical (to avoid spoilers I won’t go into details). Still, I’ll read the sequel eventually, as the library has it.

I assumed the graphic novel SLEAZE CASTLE: The Director’s Cut by Dave McKinnon and Terry Wiley would be some sort of urban-grit-and-sex story but it’s much goofier and more charming. Jo, a TV studies major at college in the UK, falls through a hole in time space and ends up six months in the future, on the same world her bestie Panda came from, in the latter’s ancestral home of Sleaze Castle (family name, I assume). Here she meets a variety of oddballs and hangs out  — which makes for a slight story, but it’s thoroughly winning.I had much less fun with NOWHERE MAN: You Don’t Know Jack by Jerome Walford, an introduction to the comics series. The protagonist is an ambitious cop with some kind of split personality or Hulk-like alt.self which creates problems … but I didn’t care what they were.

#SFWApro. Art by Wiley (t) and Herriman, all rights to images remain with current holders.