Lucas Blogs About Books

That's right, this photo's still goin' strong. The Intro Last month  time sort of got away from me and I only covered the Second Nun's Tale (a translation of the life of Saint Cecilia), which makes up the first half of the eight fragment. So let's see how Chaucer follows that up in–  The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue Shortly after the Second Nun finishes telling the life of Saint Cecile, and just as the pilgrims are nearly at Boughton-under-Blee (about five miles away from Canterbury), the party is overtaken by a chanoun (that is to say a member of the order of Augustinian canons, who can be distinguished by their white surplices and black habits) and his yeman (yeoman). It turns out that they've been riding hard because they wanted to join the company and Harry Bailly is more than happy to accommodate them, if they can add to the merriment by telling a tale or two. The Canon's Yeoman is more than happy to volunteer information about his master, who as i...

It really is a lovely shade of blue. So, what's this book's deal? Well, Hypothetical Reader, as with Magic: A History  the deal with A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos   is that I never finished it. You're the worst, Lucas. Yep! Last Winter I was the worst at finishing books that weren't comics. That said, I read so many comics that I've lost track of what order I read them in, so I've probably already blogged about several that I actually read after I gave up on Magic and A Winter's Promise . So that's something. Anyway, time to get this one out of the way. Unlike Magic , I don't feel bad about giving up on A Winter's Promise , but before we get into why, let's give a brief synopsis of what I got through. Let's. Okay. So Ophelia is the curator of a museum in a place called Anima where she uses her ability to see the history of the objects she touches to . . . . see the history of the objects she touches.  Well that would be usefu...

Hmm, morning doesn't have idea lighting conditions for my crummy webcam bookselfies. So, what's this book's deal? Well, Magic: A History: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present  is a book by Oxford archaeologist Chris Gosden. As you may have guessed from the title, it examines the place of magic in societies around the world from the earliest evidence of magical practices by early humans up to the present day. Unfortunately, part of the deal with this book is that I didn't finish it . Lucas! I know, I know. This was one of those books that I just couldn't get into back when I was in my "it seems like all I can finish is comic books" funk. On the one hand, that means I have plenty of comics that I can blog about. On the other hand, I feel a weird compulsion to blog about books I didn't finish and why I didn't finish them. Unlike say, Bloody Rose  I didn't stop reading this book because I hated it. The subject matter is legit...

Too bad Norgal doesn't have a van, he would look sweet air-brushed on the side.   So, what's this book's dea—oh, more Head Lopper . That's right, it's Volume 3: Head Lopper & The Knights of Venora . So, as you may recall, in Volume 2 , Norgal, aka, the Head Lopper, caught feelings for Zhaania in the Crimson Tower, only for her to die. So he's been drowning his sorrows in drink and bloodshed and is in a pretty sorry state when he's forced to rescue Arlenfor and Balan, the Third and First Swords of the King of Venoriah, respectively. See, they were sent out to parley with the goblin army that's been laying siege to the city. As it turns out, the goblins think that the giant egg-shaped stone within the city's walls is going to hatch their fire-breathing toad god who will then devour the sun and the moons. As fire-breathing toad gods are wont to do. Exactly. In gratitude Arlenfor vouches for Norgal who had previously been turned away from Venoriah fo...

Now an Eisner and Harvey Award Winner So, what's this book's dea—oh are we already on the latest volume of Witch Hat Atelier ? Yep, we're seven volumes into Kamome Shirahama's fantasy manga about a preteen girl's quest to save her mother who she accidentally petrified. Obviously, this blog post may contain TEH SPOILARZ  for all the previous volumes, so if you're bothered by that kinda thing consider this your warning. If I recall, in the previous volume Coco and her fellow apprentice witch cohorts were taking a make-up test administered by an elder witch in a ram chair. I assume they passed? Yes, they passed Beldaruit's make up test and advanced to the next step in their magical education. But that's not what this volume is about. It's not? No. This volume is about two things: 1) Master Qifrey's backstory and how it relates to B) Coco's ongoing quest to find a way to save her mother. Both of which bring them into conflict with the Brimmed C...