Inu-Yasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale

OMG -- can Rumiko Takahashi’s manga get any more popular? First, Ranma 1/2 was flying off the rack, and now it’s Inu-Yasha. (As soon as I finish this, I have to buy us some more copies.)

We start with Kagome, a typically sweet and dutiful Japanese school girl. She lives with her family and her cat, Buyo, in an old shrine, and everything is pretty normal until she falls down a well.

At this point, it’s good to strike from your mind any thoughts of Lassie (“What is it, girl? Has Timmy fallen in the well?”) or even Alice (“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”) No, Inu-Yasha is a bit more exciting than that. For instance, Kagome doesn’t exactly fall down the Bone Eating Well -- she is suddenly grabbed and hauled in by a centipede demon. No Wonderland, this, but ancient, feudal Japan, where demons and monsters and all the old legends are alive and well.

Fighting for her life against Centipede Lady, Kagome encounters the title character, Inu-Yasha. Half-human, half-dog demon, Inu-Yasha had been bound to the Tree of Ages until Kagome breaks the spell (cast by his first love, the priestess Kikyou.) As it happens, both the Centipede Demon and Inu-Yasha want the same thing: the power-enhancing Jewel of Four Souls, aka the Shikon no Tama, so Inu-Yasha joins forces with Kagome and the demon is a goner. In the process, Kagome is discovered to be the reincarnation of Kikyou; the jewel is discovered, struggled over, and smashed into shards; and the plot is set for what will eventually turn out to be a 33+ volume manga series.

Love & betrayal, blood & battle, monsters & magic, weapons & people of power, plus not a few screamingly funny lines, Inu-Yasha is a great yarn. Rumiko Takahashi has won 3 Shogakukan Manga Awards and the Inkpot, which is really no wonder. Inu-Yasha is also out as a television program, and a series of video games.

So, if you’re ready to meet the bloodsucking demon flea and the human monk with the wind tunnel in his hand -- or watch Kagome immobilize Inu-Yasha with the secret word, “Sit!” (too funny...) as he brandishes the magic sword, the Iron Crushing Fang, give this series a try.

And hey -- if you’re already a fan, who’s your favorite character?

The Wee Free Men

OK, I promised you an occasional reading rave, so buckle up: here’s rave #1.

Terry Pratchett’s 30th Discworld novel, The Wee Free Men, is at the top of my list for the 2006/2007 reading season. Yes, there were other titles I particularly enjoyed -- The Glass Castle, The Book Thief, All Over Creation, Eventide -- but The Wee Free Men really left an impression.

How could it not? There’s 9-year-old Tiffany Aching, of Home Farm, The Chalk, who clobbers a big green water monster with a frying pan. And there’s her horrid, sticky little brother, Wentworth, whose constant cries of “Wanna wanna wanna sweetie!” perhaps explain why Tiffany used him as bait for Jenny Green-Teeth, but do not explain why he gets kidnapped by the Queen of Faerie.

There are the Wee Free Men, masterful brawlers, theivers, and drinkers, blue with tattoos, red-headed, and 6” tall, who’ve come down to The Chalk looking for the new witch. And wasn’t the old witch Tiffany’s Granny? And doesn’t it begin to look like Tiffany herself will be called upon to save Wentworth, the Baron’s son, and the Chalk Hills from the clutches of the evil Queen? Crivens! There are Grimhounds, Nightmares, and Headless Horsemen, a Queen who steals your dreams and traps you in them, and a creeping iciness devouring The Chalk. Will Tiffany, armed only with frying pan, common sense, and steely determination, be able to put things right?.

I guess it’s because I enjoy both fantasy and word play that I am besotted with The Wee Free Men. Tiffany’s tutor in the witchly arts is Perspecatia Tick. Miss Tick gives her a talking toad (he used to be a lawyer) and advises Tiffany to pay attention to her first sight and her second thoughts. The Wee Free Men, aka the Nac Mac Feegle, Pictsies, or “person or persons unknown, believed to be armed” sport delicious names, like Rob Anybody, No’-As-Big-As-Medium-Sized-Jock-But-Bigger-Than-Wee-Jock-Jock, and Daft Willie. And what do those ferocious Feegles shout when things are going badly? “Waily, waily, waily!” of course. Too funny.

If you haven't read Terry Pratchett, I recommend starting with The Wee Free Men. If you like it, there are two more in the series (s0 far): A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith. Yum!

Sojourn, Vol. 1: From the Ashes

What’s the most-read graphic novel here in LibraryLand? Yup. It’s Sojourn, Volume One: From the Ashes, written by Ron Marz, penciled by Greg Land, and inked by Drew Geraci. Here is epic fantasy, complete with heroine, wizard, quest, magic, mystery, trolls, and grand, bloody, chaotic battles between the forces of good and evil. It’s true that Sojourn starts out a little slowly, action-wise, while the author catches us up on 300 years of backstory -- but what fantasy junkie doesn’t love that stuff? The more we find out about that other world, the better.

Plus -- unlike its 800+ page counterparts on the fiction shelf (think Jordan’s Wheel of Time or Martin’s Song of Ice & Fire, etc.) -- this is a comic! The art is splendid. Aside from all the fantastic detail work, the action and emotion drawn into each character, creature, and scene really bring Marz’ storyline to life.

Fellow fantasy freaks, speak up! If you’ve read Sojourn, pop us a comment. If you haven’t, give it a try.