Review: Geek Ink by Emanuele Pagani

Title: Geek Ink: The World's Smartest Tattoos for Rebels, Nerds, Scientists, and Intellectuals
Author: Emanuele Pagani
Genre: Art and Photography
Series:
Pages: 224
Published: Expected March 20, 2018
Source: publisher
Rating: 3.5/5

Exhibiting cutting-edge designs from the most sought-after and acclaimed contemporary tattoo artists worldwide, Geek Ink presents magnificent ideas for tattoos on themes from science fiction and fantasy, as well as a wide range of topics across science, mathematics, literature, and philosophy.

With commentary from creators of the Inkstinct project--which connects people with the finest tattoo art from 380,000 studios worldwide and has an Instagram fan base of more than 1 million--as well as interviews with world-renowned masters like Eva Krbdk (460K followers), David Cote (232K followers), and Thomas Eckeard (169K followers), this is the definitive tattoo inspiration sourcebook for hipsters, bookworms, scientists, academics, engineers, and, of course, geeks!

I've never reviewed an art book on APR before, but when I was offered an ARC of Geek Ink, I was over the moon. Geek tattoos are something very close to me and mine. The artist of my Bradbury piece also did a full geek sleeve for my sister, featuring Warhammer 40k, Psychonauts, Phantom of the Opera, Legend of Zelda, and Supernatual. (She also has separate Repo the Genetic Opera and a Fatal Frame pieces.) The seventh wedding anniversary gift is traditionally copper, so I sent my husband to a very nice sadist to stab a Terry Pratchett inspired "copper" badge into his arm.

The book is set up in two sections. The first is a brief profile of 25 artists from around the globe. These feature a one paragraph bio, links to their instagram and inkstinct pages, a quote from them about their art, and 8-10 samples from their portfolios. The layout and photography are high quality and do a wonderful job framing the tattoos as art.  The only problem with the samples chosen is many of the pieces are featured in the book twice, both here and either in one of collages at the beginning and end of each section or in the gallery itself.

Standouts for me were Frank Carrilho's Nikola Telsa, David Cote's Neon Vader, (the color work to make something actually appear made of neon tubing, I'm in awe,) literally every single piece by Inez Janiak, Andrea Morales' Killer Robot and The Golden Snitch and Hogwarts, PisSaro's Bejeweled Elephant, and Hugo Tatooer's entire aesthetic.

I have good taste. Morales and Carrilho appear on the cover and Cote appeared on the previous version.

The gallery was less successful. Its table of contents consists of animals, anime, astronomy, biology, botany, conceptual, cult classics, fantasy, geography, geometry, literature, psychology, science fiction, surrealism, technology, and television. Large sections like animals and botany are further divided, though not in the table of contents so you have to flip to the first page and then scan through. Animals are split into vertebrates and invertebrates, and then vertebrates are split into classes: aves, cetacea, proboscidae, reptilia, mammalia, then order: carnivora, and finally family: canidae, felidae. All this seems like an artificial way to make animal tattoos, the most popular tattoo type, seem geeky. All sciences, zoology included, are pretty geeky, but a lot of the included tattoos look like someone's pet.

The classifications are arbitrary and made it harder to look up the subjects. For example, Rob Carvalho's Fox and Rose (inspired by The Little Prince) is on page 170, Cult Classics. Meanwhile, Nora Lyasko's The Little Prince piece, The Fox and the Prince is on page 190, Literature. (Page numbers from the PDF ARC and may be changed in the final printing, of course.) A replica of Starry Night is in Surrealism, of all places. Wolverine's in Cult Classics, but Darth Vader's in Sci-Fi.

It also feels like a lot of geek culture is missing. There are only six TV tattoos, none of which are the big hitters I'd expect. No Doctor Who or Star Trek. There is an X Files, but again it's back in Cult Classics.  There are no games, video, board, or tabletop represented. Not even anything that really says hard sciences, except one representation of a caffeine molecule, (in biology, next to a skull and two stylized hearts.) There are a few under the featured artists, but if you're using the gallery to browse for ideas, you're going to have a hard time.

It's a beautiful coffee table book, but I don't know if you'll find your new ink in it.

Winter Bingo Wrap Up

It's time to say goodbye to winter and I, for one, welcome our groundhog overlords to end this madness.

Black Author: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (12/3)

Wintry Title: Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt (12/12)

Trees on Cover: Love You Like Christmas by Keri F Sweet (12/21)

Holiday Theme: A Scottish Lord for Christmas by Lauren Smith (12/23)

Romance: The Christmas Cowboy Hero by Donna Grant (12/25) 

Sci-Fi: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (12/26)

Green Cover: Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant (12/27)

Buddy Read: The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen (12/30)

Snow or Ice on Cover: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (12/30)

Romance: The Christmas Cowboy Hero by Donna Grant (12/26) 

Villainous: War of the Cards by Colleen Oakes (1/5)

Death: A Tangled Web by Mercedes Lackey (1/17)

Winter Release: Three Sides of a Heart ed Natalie C. Parker (1/18)

Numbers in Title: The Five Brothers Next Door by Nikki Chase (1/18)

Light Blue Cover: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (1/27)

2018 Debut: Everless by Sara Holland (1/31)

2017 Release Missed: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo (1/31)

Friend's Fave: Check Please! Year One by Ngozi Ukazu (2/2)

Red Cover: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (2/2)

Fae, Faeries, Fair Folk: Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire (2/9)

LGBT+: Ringside: Kayfabe by Joe Keatinge (2/20)

Cold Setting: The Colors of Cold by J.M. Sidorova (2/27)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red Cover: Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen (Untitled #1)

Spinoff: Wires and Nerve Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer

Black Author: A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole (The Loyal League #2)

Buddy Read: The Wicked and the Divine: the Faust Act by Kieron Gillen

2018 Debut: Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk

Scifi: New Pompeii by Daniel Godfrey (New Pompeii #1)

Light Blue Cover: Marco Impossible by Hannah Moskowitz

LGBT: Into the Drowning Deep by Seanan McGuire

Wintry Title: The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam

Waiting on Wednesday: The Forbidden City

Title: The Forbidden City 

Author: Deborah A. Wolfe

Series: The Dragon's Legacy #2

Expected Publication: May 15 2018

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Sulema Ja'Akari is an elite warrior, one of the desert people known as the Zeeranim. She is also the daughter of the Dragon King of Atualon, whose magic is the only thing that prevents the earth dragon from waking. Should the dragon end her sleep, their world will be destroyed.

The Dragon King is dying. As heir to his throne Sulema must be trained to take his place, yet the more she learns, the less she trusts the sinister agendas that surround her. Knowing that her life hangs in the balance, Sulema seeks to return to the Zeera.

Salvation may lie with her mother, Hafsa Azeina, who walks the dark and deadly pathways of the Dreaming Lands. To save her daughter, the dreamshifter will be forced to strike a pact with her greatest enemy, a huntress who would rather kill her than assist her.

Upheaval stretches far beyond Atualon—to the forbidden city of Khanbul where the emperor rules with an iron hand. An elite cadre of rebel conspirators chafes beneath his rule and plots to overthrow him.

Among them is Jian de Allyr, the half-dae prince born of a human mother and a twilight lord. If they are to challenge the emperor in his stronghold, however, Jian and his co-conspirators must secretly raise an army...

The Dragon's Legacy (The Dragon's Legacy #1)

Waiting on Wednesday: Dance of Thieves

Title: Dance of Thieves

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Series: Dance of Thieves #1

Expected Publication: August 2018

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A new novel in the New York Times–bestselling Remnant Chronicles universe, in which a reformed thief and the young leader of an outlaw dynasty lock wits in a battle that may cost them their lives—and their hearts.

When the patriarch of the Ballenger empire dies, his son, Jase, becomes its new leader. Even nearby kingdoms bow to the strength of this outlaw family, who have always governed by their own rules. But a new era looms on the horizon, set in motion by a young queen, which makes her the target of the dynasty's resentment and anger.

At the same time, Kazi, a legendary former street thief, is sent by the queen to investigate transgressions against the new settlements. When Kazi arrives in the forbidding land of the Ballengers, she learns that there is more to Jase than she thought. As unexpected events spiral out of their control, bringing them intimately together, they continue to play a cat and mouse game of false moves and motives in order to fulfill their own secret missions.

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1)

The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2)

The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles #3)

Book Tour Review: Blood of a Thousand Stars by Rhoda Belleza

Title: Blood of a Thousand Stars
Author: Rhoda Belleza
Genre: science fiction
Series: Empress of a Thousand Skies #2
Pages: 344
Published: expected February 20 2018
Source: ARC from publishers for review
Rating: 4/5

Empress 

With a revolution brewing, Rhee is faced with a choice: make a deal with her enemy, Nero, or denounce him and risk losing her crown.


Fugitive 
Framed assassin Alyosha has one goal in mind: kill Nero. But to get his revenge, Aly may have to travel back to the very place he thought he’d left forever—home.

Princess 
Kara knows that a single piece of technology located on the uninhabitable planet Wraeta may be the key to remembering—and erasing—the princess she once was.

Madman 

Villainous media star Nero is out for blood, and he’ll go to any means necessary to control the galaxy.

Vicious politics and high-stakes action culminate in an epic showdown that will determine the fate of the universe.

The second book in Rhoda Belleza's politics and revenge-driven YA science fiction series, Blood of a Thousand Stars offers more of what made the first so much fun: fast-paced action, interesting characters of diverse backgrounds, clever plots, and general mayhem in space.  This time around the stakes are higher and the plots are thicker, the villain more devious -- the author pulls no punches with her sophomore offering. Galactic war threatens everyone and everything, and the Ta'an sisters and their allies have to scramble to find their place in everything and try to stop a tyrant.

Empress of a Thousand Skies was undoubtedly Rhiannon's story, and Blood of a Thousand Stars belongs to Kara/Josselyn's struggle and evolution. While there are still three pivotal rotating POVs --  this time: Kara, Rhee, and Alyosha -- it is Kara that dominates the narrative. Hers is the POV that stood out the most because her choices are the most crucial to the plot of the novel. The other characters have become steadily more real and defined people over the course of both books, and they again play essential roles, but Kara remains the linchpin of the narrative. Rhiannon is a strong supporting main character; she still grows and learns about herself; Alyosha finds himself once again in unexpected but dire straits and complements Kara in more ways than one.

Belleza features a lot of action and assassination attempts and political maneuvering in her second novel. There are some high stakes and high adventures as each character fights -- for the throne, for their people, for themselves. At times the pacing of essential scenes can feel almost frenetic; with a lot happening and different narrators covering various events, it can be confusing to keep straight. There can be clarity issues when it comes to the fight scenes, especially, but it's an improvement from the same situation in book one. There also is a third-act plot reveal which feels like a bit of a retcon from key events that took place  in Empress of a Thousand Skies -- <spoiler>now Veyron is revealed as loyal and his ill-fated assassination attemped was timed perfectly so Dahlen would save Rhee? But then who would have saved Julian from Nero because Rhee was alive?....</spoiler>  -- but tied in neatly with how Julian was involved in this book's plot. I'm not sure it entirely works but I did appreciate how Julian complicated Rhiannon's narrative and made her reflect on her past choices and actions.

While there is still room and space in this galaxy to explore further stories, there is a definite feel of finality to at least this particular arc of Kara and Rhee's stories. There's bittersweet resolution that fits the harsh events that preceded it. Blood of a Thousand Stars was quickly-moving and and engaging; it may be on the lighter side of scifi but doesn't lack for imagination or for a death toll. The plotting could use a little more finesse, the universe feels a tad bit small (why are all these journeys over so fast? Space is huge!) but overall, a surprising and entertaining sequel and an improvement on its predecessor.

Guest Post: Blood and Sand's C.V. Wyk

Title: Blood and Sand
Author: C.V. Wyk
Genre: historical fiction
Series: Untitled #1
Pages: 320
Published: expected January 16 2018
Source: review copy from publisher

FORGED IN BATTLE...
FROM THE DUST OF THE ARENA...
A LEGEND WILL RISE

The action-packed tale of a 17-year-old warrior princess and a handsome gladiator who dared take on the Roman Republic―and gave rise to the legend of Spartacus...

For teens who love strong female protagonists in their fantasy and historical fiction, Blood and Sand is a stirring, yet poignant tale of two slaves who dared take on an empire by talented debut author C. V. Wyk.

Roma Victrix. The Republic of Rome is on a relentless march to create an empire―an empire built on the backs of the conquered, brought back to Rome as slaves.

Attia was once destined to rule as the queen and swordmaiden of Thrace, the greatest warrior kingdom the world had seen since Sparta. Now she is a slave, given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome, as a sign of his master’s favor. Enslaved as a child, Xanthus is the preeminent gladiator of his generation.

Against all odds, Attia and Xanthus form a tentative bond. A bond that will spark a rebellion. A rebellion that threatens to bring the Roman Republic to its end―and gives rise to the legend of Spartacus...

Today I am happy to have C.V. Wyk here talking about favorite Romans and how they influenced the story in Blood and Sand.

Most of my favorite Roman figures didn’t make it directly into the book by name, but rather exerted their influence on the characters, plot, and events in BLOOD AND SAND in a subtler way. For instance, the general Gaius Marius was a brilliant tactician who was responsible for making the Roman army the infamous fighting force it was as early as 100BC. The concepts of a standing army and soldiers by trade were introduced under Marius and allowed for non-Romans to earn citizenship and acclaim. Without giving away spoilers, this is…important haha.

Other men like Marcus Aurelias and Tiberius Gracchus inspired the character of Lucius and how a young Roman patrician might have viewed the flagrant inequality and brutality of ancient Rome. Gracchus was well-known for his disdain of social inequality and spent his life trying to fight the tyranny of economic and political oppression. The death of Marcus Aurelias, who is often referred to as the Philosopher Emperor, signaled the end of the Pax Romana and ushered in the decline of the Roman empire.

A few of historical figures who are mentioned in BLOOD AND SAND by name are rather villainous inmy adaptation, specifically the members of the House of Flavius. Crassus was not a Flavian (his real name was Marcus Licinius Crassus), but he was a true Roman general whose greatest accomplishment was defeating Spartacus during the Third Servile War, or The Gladiator War, in 73BC. Titus Flavius was a real emperor after his father Vespasian, but according to historical documents, he was benevolent and well-loved. In the book however, much of his story arc is influenced by two figures: Lucius Aurelius Commodus (the dictatorial son of Marcus Aurelius), and the first true Roman Emperor, Augustus, who ruled as early as 27BC. Augustus was also the adopted son of Julius Caesar and later worked with Mark Antony to bring Caesar’s assassins to justice. Moreover, these men later influenced the Shakespeare quotes that appear at the beginning of BLOOD AND SAND. One line of that quote, in particular, shaped the narrative of this book: O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth! I imagine it was Attia’s lament as she cursed herself for not saving her father or her people.

My last few favorites include Boudicca and Livy. Boudicca was actually Celtic queen who fought against the Roman invasion of Britain. She was a fiery character with a tragic past who really helped shape the histories and personalities of Xanthus, Attia, and Lucretia. Livy, whose full name was Titus Livius, was a well-renowned Roman historian who died in approximately 12AD. His massive history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condite Libri (Books from the Foundation of the City), were incredibly useful during my research for BLOOD AND SAND.

And, of course, there is Spartacus, perhaps one of the most famous Romans of all time. Even here, in his list of my Roman historical figures who influenced the book, there are nearly no women save for the queen of a distant kingdom. But more than any other figure, Spartacus—who had no verifiable or recorded history—was someone open to interpretation, to borrowing and twisting and reconfiguring the facts as we know them. Spartacus not only found a way into this book, but completely took over. But what else would you expect from the slave who defied an empire?

Thank you so much for stopping by and talking ancient Romans with me, C.V.!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

Title: The Odyssey

Author: Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

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The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.

In this fresh, authoritative version—the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman—this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, this engrossing translation matches the number of lines in the Greek original, thus striding at Homer’s sprightly pace and singing with a voice that echoes Homer’s music.

Wilson’s Odyssey captures the beauty and enchantment of this ancient poem as well as the suspense and drama of its narrative. Its characters are unforgettable, from the cunning goddess Athena, whose interventions guide and protect the hero, to the awkward teenage son, Telemachus, who struggles to achieve adulthood and find his father; from the cautious, clever, and miserable Penelope, who somehow keeps clamoring suitors at bay during her husband’s long absence, to the “complicated” hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this translation as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.

A fascinating introduction provides an informative overview of the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the major themes of the poem, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of scholars, students, and general readers alike.

I can't believe this is the first official translation by a woman. I've already heard it's making the menz mad with the word choice (something about Achilles seeming less than supremely manly? Odysseus a bit less than all-knowing?) and I am entirely Here For It.