Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted

I've been on a comic book kick for a little while now because I'm trying to branch out and read more than just the 2-3 titles I'm familiar with.

To prevent her secrets from becoming public knowledge, Natasha Romanoff must steal from her own organization at the behest of a mysterious stranger known as the Weeping Lion. That's bad enough, but to get out from under his thumb, she will have to confront her upbringing and a new generation of Red Room assassins.

After the bitter pill of Avengers: Endgame, it's nice to see more attention paid to Black Widow's character. This collection is very action-heavy but sets up a decent plot arc for later issues. I hope. It's hard to tell because the whole "facing a troubled past" narrative has been done so many times in spy stories. I really hope Mark Waid and Chris Samnee have some new takes on what's become rather a tired premise.

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The Outsourcerer's Apprentice by Tom Holt

I don't know if I would call this a sequel but it is set in the same universe as Doughnut and When It's A Jar so it's definitely related. Benny just wanted to take a break from studying for exams by escaping into YouSpace for a while. Unfortunately, he has lost his doughnut and is trapped as Prince Florizel in a world that is falling apart. The Wizard who controls everything has been outsourcing all the magical labor for his own ends to different dimensions which has begun a ripple effect towards destabilizing the entire plane. Now, Florizel and his reluctant subjects Buttercup, a Red-Riding-Hood sick to death of having to kill talking wolves everyday, and Turquine, a knight suddenly curious about the increase in dragons and what that means for his union, must confront the Outsourcerer once and for all. Tom Holt is probably the next spiritual successor to Terry Pratchett in terms of humor. This series blends quantum mechanics, macroeconomics, and fantasy ...

The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood

Let's start with the positives. The illustrations in this book were really well-done. The dragons as they were described seemed realistic, and you can tell that Mr. Lockwood put some time and effort into designing a world that could support them as a species. Maia dreams of one day having a dragon of her very own from her family's breeding grounds but most of the hatchlings are already spoken for by the government to be trained for the war effort. One day, while she is out exploring with her brother, they see an ancient wild dragon supposedly a harbinger for change. Unknowingly, this sighting embroils Maia in not only the ongoing war, creeping ever closer to her home and dragons, but also in an internal religious schism with the potential to be just as deadly. Okay, here's what I didn't like: the story seemed geared towards adolescents, so I think it was mis-shelved from the YA section. Maia is very clearly a teenager trying to nav...

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

I really wanted to like this book. It seemed like it was right up my alley. But it turns out that alley isn't a place I have any interest in going. Red Ben is a mystical creature living under a forced peace with humans. He is content to sit and drink and mourn over the loss of his most recent relationship when an old enemy moves against him. The interruption barely upsets Ben because of the aforementioned peace but the enemy's taunts that Ben no longer enjoys protection because another like him has awakened gets his full attention. Soon he is desperately trying to track down a former goddess hell-bent on revenge while fending off his old enemy and a coven of dangerously powerful witches who have kidnapped his ex-girlfriend. I think the major problem I had while reading this is that there are no real female characters existing on their own merits without being used as props for the male protagonist. Atiya gets treated as a Mcguffin or an object of...

The Literary Lucy

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