Tag: Sign

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata – Death Note Black Edition: Volume V | Review

Title: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Author: Death Note: Black Edition Volume VI

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 426

Rating 4/5

 

 

I’m almost at the end now, and I’m pleased to report that it’s picked back up a little bit and I enjoyed this one more than the last. It’s still not quite as good as it was when it first started out, but it’s still good enough and it’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’ve made it this far.

I think part of the reason that I enjoyed this was that you could tell that we were getting near the end game and so the stakes felt a little higher. The authors have also shown by this point that they don’t mind killing major characters when it serves the story, which leaves you as the reader feeling like pretty much anything could happen.

Other than that, I’m not too sure what else I can say that I haven’t said in previous reviews. As always, the artwork is gorgeous, so big props to Takeshi Obata for that. Tsugumi Ohba does a great job with the story, too. He’s clearly a master storyteller, and it’s impressive how much he manages to convey through just dialogue and the image briefs that he gives to his illustrator.

 

 

If you’re thinking about reading Death Note, I’d definitely recommend picking up the Black Edition books. They’re not super expensive (I think I paid around £30 for all six of them), and they’re beautiful little artefacts in their own right. They’ll look great on your shelves, but they also look great in your hands and the quality of the print is good enough to highlight all of the details from the original comics.

The only thing that I will say is that when I first started reading the series, I didn’t know who I wanted to win because I liked both sides. Now, though, I don’t know who I want to win because I don’t really care for either side, which is probably a bad sign. I’m just not as invested in the series as I was when I first started out, and I can’t tell whether that’s because of the story or just that I’m flagging.

 

 

Click here to buy Death Note Black Edition: Volume V.


Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency | Review

Title: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Author: Douglas Adams

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 248

Rating: 4*/5

 

Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

 

I’ve been looking forward to reading this for a while now, but I’ve been holding it back so that I’d have it to look forward to. I’ve not been enjoying reading as much of late and so I thought it was about time for me to pick this one up. I made a good call.

I’ve read Adams’ Hitchhiker’s books before and I’ve also seen the adaptation of Dirk Gently starring Elijah Wood on Netflix, but I also knew that the original book had a different plot to the series and so I had that to look forward to. I also feel like I’ve somehow gone full circle by reading the Hitchhiker’s books before listening to the radio show and then reading Dirk Gently after watching the adaptation. It makes a sort of “original book” sandwich.

The humour here was excellent and it’s what the book is really all about, but the plot itself and also the characterisation are spot on, if not exceptional. I also enjoyed reading the way that Adams wrote about technology, bearing in mind that this book was published before I was born. He future-proofed it pretty well. It had a joke about Excel that still works just as well today, which I think is a sign of how seriously savvy he was. This is definitely one worth reading.

 

Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams

 

Click here to buy Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.