Review of MAKE COMICS LIKE THE PROS by Greg Pek and Fred Van Lente

I've always been a fan of comics and comic book heroes. Comics are a great way of telling a story because of the visual nature. The Killing Joke by Alan Moore is probably one of my favorite graphic novels ever because of how well the story is communicated using images and dialogue. I'm a storyteller, and I've always wanted to try my hand at some point in creating a story through a comic book.

MAKE COMICS LIKE THE PROS is a great introductory guide that walks you through the process comic book creators go through to produce a comic book. The authors, Greg Pek and Fred Van Lente, share their experience working on some of the most loved comic book characters in history. You'll learn the whole process from pitching to writing to drawing, inking, and lettering, all the way to publishing. They cover how to find and keep an audience without minimizing the difficulty of breaking in to the comic book industry.

It's a fun book with some very helpful insight for those who want to work in the comic book industry.

Review copy provided by Blogging for Books

Review of FOUNDATIONS IN COMIC BOOK ART by John Paul Lowe

FOUNDATIONS IN COMIC BOOK ART by John Paul Lowe is a not only a book about drawing comic book characters; it's a great introduction to drawing in general. The book is very helpful in showing the budding artist how to notice the shapes and forms in the things that they want to draw. Really helpful for me was the instruction on drawing perspective because that's always been a sticking point for me as an artist.

Because this is a book about drawing for comic books, after the basics are covered, the reader is introduced to the concepts that will help them to draw comic book figures. The book doesn't stop with the drawing process, however. For comic book art, there is also inking, and Lowe introduces the reader to inking techniques as well.

I found this to be a very helpful book as someone who wants to draw well and be a visual artist.

Review copy provided by Blogging for Books

Review of THE RULE OF THOUGHTS by James Dashner

In The Eye of Minds, James Dashner's first book in his groundbreaking new series The Mortality Doctrine, Michael discovered something about himself that he never realized, and everything changed for him. The Rule of Thoughts picks up where the first book left off, and Michael now faces new challenges as he tries to stop Kaine from implementing his plan to take over the world of the wake. People are being taken over all over the world. Michael, Bryson, and Sarah become wanted, and they are tasked with facing Kaine whose motivations aren't quite clear.

Dashner created a unique and fun story world with the first book. This is a great book for gamers because of the world of the narrative. Michael, the main character, is literally one of the most complex characters I've ever read. And his friends create a nice mini-community that creates a feeling of warmth even in the midst of the insane circumstances they find themselves in.

Dashner blew me away with the first book, especially the end. This book has only continued to cement Dashner as one of the most innovative storytellers around in my mind. Kaine is a truly compelling villain, and the narrative force of the story kept me reading until the end. As the second book in a trilogy, this book creates plenty of hunger for what Dashner has in mind for book 3.

Review copy provided by Delacorte Press

Review of WORDS FOR PICTURES by Brian Michael Bendis

Title: Words for Pictures: The Art and Business of Writing Comics and Graphic Novels

Author: Brian Michael Bendis

Publisher: Watson-Guptill

What It's About: Words for Pictures is a guide for anyone interested in writing scripts for comic books or graphic novels.

Why I Read It: I've always loved comic books and graphics novels. I've never written in that medium before, but I've always been interested in the process. Bendis's book is the perfect guide to learning how to write in the comic book/graphic novel medium.

What I Liked About It: As a fan of comic books, I've come across Brian Michael Bendis's name many times, so I knew this was a book by someone who was on the front lines of the industry. In fact, Bendis is one of the leading writers for Marvel Comics, and he's written for The Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man, among many others. I loved his story about how he got into comics. He even includes some examples of his early work in learning the craft.

Bendis covers the way comic book scripts are created, from pitch documents to the actual script that an artist follows to create the visuals of the story. Bendis makes it clear that when you're writing a script, you're writing something that your audience will never see. Comics and graphic novels are a joint effort by the writer and the artist, so when you're writing your script, you're writing in a way that the artist will understand what you're trying to get across so that they can translate it into visuals on the page.

The book also includes several contributions and interactions with other leading writers and artists to give us an even wider look into the creative process for comics/graphic novels.

The book doesn't just cover the craft side of comic books, however. Bendis also guides writers through the business side of comic book writing. This includes how to break into the business of comic book writing, which is a difficult pursuit. It's also about how to run a writing business once you've broken in and established yourself as a comic book writer. This was an interesting part of the book because Bendis interviews his wife who handles much of the business side of Bendis's career. It was great to see her insight into what a writer must do to always stay in the profession.

To top it all off, the book includes a chapter on the questions Bendis is asked the most, complete with his insightful and honest answers. This is a great book, the best I've seen, if you're interested in writing for comics or graphic novels.

Review copy provided by the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review

Where You Can Buy It: Amazon.com

Review of IF I HAD LUNCH WITH C.S. LEWIS by Alister McGrath

Title: If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis

Author: Alister McGrath

Publisher: Tyndale House

What It's About: If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis is a unique interaction with the writings and thought of C.S. Lewis as if he were our lunch guest.

Why I Read It: C.S. Lewis is probably my favorite author of all time, and I thoroughly loved McGrath's biography of Lewis. I found the idea of having a conversation with Lewis over lunch intriguing.

What I Liked About It: The layout of the book is great as each chapter takes one theme each from the writings of Lewis. For example, McGrath spends a chapter looking at Lewis's thoughts on the importance of story, and in another chapter we get a closer look at the character of Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia stories. There are other chapters on education, friendship, the meaning of life, apologetics, the problem of pain, and heaven. McGrath spends the beginning of each chapter outlining Lewis's thoughts on the subject, with some context, and then engages in a hypothetical dialogue with Lewis on the subject. Because McGrath researched extensively into Lewis's life for his biography, he is the perfect person poised to give us a book like this. If you're a fan of Lewis's writing, If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis is a fun book to read that will give you a good overview of what was most important in Lewis's mind.

Review copy provided by Tyndale House as a part of the Tyndale House Blog Network

Review of WRITING FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION from Writer's Digest Books

Title: Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction

Author: Orson Scott Card, Philip Athans, Jay Lake, and the Editors of Writer's Digest

Publisher: Writer's Digest Books

What It's About: Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction is a comprehensive guidebook to creating fantastic storyworlds and characters for stories that have more of a fantasy or sci-fi focus.

Why I Read It: Many of the stories I love the most fall into the realm of either science fiction or fantasy, or at least have fantasy and sci-fi elements as a part of the story.

What I Liked About It: This book is really about creating a world for your story, and the variety of authors who contribute to this book cover a wide-range of elements you need to consider as you're crafting your story. Things like the society of your story, dress, weapons, religions, creatures. Everything that you can think of that has a place in either fantasy or sci-fi stories is covered in this book. One of the interesting parts of the book is the section on steampunk stories, and it might get you interested in trying your hand at one. Orson Scott Card, who wrote Ender's Game, is one of the primary contributors and the reason why I wanted to read the book. The other authors have just as much insight to offer, however, and it's a valuable addition for any fiction writer's bookshelf.

Review copy provided by Writer's Digest Books

Where You Can Buy It: Amazon.com

Review of STORY PHYSICS by Larry Brooks

Title: Story Physics

 

Author: Larry Brooks

 

Publisher: Writer's Digest Books

 

What It's About: Story Physics outlines the fundamental forces that drive any story so that any fiction writer can learn to utilize them to craft a compelling story.

 

Why I Read It: I loved Brooks's other book Story Engineering and found it to be one of the best books on story structure I've ever read. When I found out he was expanding upon what he'd written in that book in Story Physics, I knew I wanted to check it out.

 

What I Liked About It: I loved Brooks's discussion of the difference between an idea, a concept, and a premise because it makes so much sense. It helps you to refine your idea to make it uniquely your own. I love engineering metaphors, and this book makes great use of the ideas of forces that drive a good story forward. Brooks argues that every good story follows certain story physics, and the stories that don't are the ones that people aren't reading. I loved his discussion of mission-driven scenes and the role of subtext in the stories we tell.

For those who haven't read Story Engineering, this book in some ways rehashes some of the key elements of that book, as well as provides some summary of what Brooks calls the Core Competencies of storytelling at the end. Since I loved the first book, I didn't mind revisiting what he'd already shared in the first book. Plus, it's stuff I try to use as I'm writing anyway. One of the most helpful parts of the book comes toward the end when Brooks applies what he's been talking about with story physics to The Hunger Games, which is one of my favorite novels. He also applies it to The Help. 

Story Physics is a great book if you're writing fiction because it will help you to understand what makes great stories great and give you some strategies for creating your own.

Review copy provided by Writer's Digest Books

 

Where You Can Buy It: Amazon.com