This month we are starting with the book The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. At least this month I’ve actually heard of this book and author. Haven’t read it and probably never will though.
Some sort of horror’y book. Which considering it is October and halloween is at the end of the month, shouldn’t surprise anyone. Another book I almost automatically think of for Halloween is the following.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I am not a fan of Bradbury and this was the next to last book of his that I read. That cover though, reminds me of another book.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. Dickens did not finish this book, as he inconveniently died while in the middle of it. An unfinished book is always an unpleasant thing. Another unpleasant thing is an Unfinished Series.
The Borderlands series by Lorna Freeman was just such a series. 3 books and then the author just seemed to disappear. Sometimes an author loses interest in writing the series, but sometimes a reader loses interest in the series.
For me, The Destroyermen series falls squarely into that category. I gave up on Book 10 and when I just looked, he’s currently up to book 15? There was no end in sight with book 10, so I don’t expect much has changed with those 5 extra books. The word “HELL” stands out pretty prominently to me.
Hellsing, a manga series where the word Hell is also pretty predominant. While it was based on a great idea, it quickly devolved. A lot of mangas do fall apart, but one that didn’t is the following, it stayed strong until the last volume.
Death Note. While all of the movies were ok to bad, the manga? Outside of Akira, probably the best I’ve ever read.
And that is how you go from The Turn of the Screw to Death Note. A suitably spooky ending to this #6Degrees post I think.
If you’d like to participate in the #6degrees series of posts, head over to #6Degrees Meme to find out the starting point for each month. They’re not always punctual, so sometimes you have to wait until a week into the month.
I’m watching Bly Manor on Netflix just now, which has a novel take on the James book. Which is to say a radical take. I’m thinking of reading Drood because it’s unfinished by the author, so there’s no pressure for me to finish it myself…
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When I get around to Edwin Drood, I plan on reading the “finished” tale called Drood by Dan Simmons. I’ll be interested in how he thinks things get wrapped up.
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And I vaguely remember there’s a 2000 AD comic strip called Judge Drood which sees the same figure fight crime in the future?
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Oh man, you would mix Dickens with a comic book figure?
I did not think you would ever sink that low. I’m off to eat chicken parm sausage to console myself now…
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Ok, I’ve left the butter out to soften, but I’d sniff the chicken first…
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I have this huge black edition of Deathnote. It’s heavy as a brick (probably could use it if a burglar ever invades my home to bash my head in) but still haven’t gotten around to reading it. You saying outside of Akira it’s the best you’ve ever read? This means I’m moving it up quite a few spaces…in fact once I’m done with Orange it will be the next manga that I’m going to read.
That cover for the Destroyermen series does look cool…but guess it’s another one of those “never judge a book by it’s cover kind of cases” 😀
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Is your Deathnote some sort of Omnibus edition? I’m always on the lookout for premium versions. Just like I “invested” in the hardcover Akira books a year or two ago, I’d be willing to “invest” in the Death Note manga as well. It really is good stuff.
Destroyermen started out pretty cool and maybe it stays cool, but I need an end point and it kept moving the goal posts 😦
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Yes it is. It contains the entire series in one volume, and has a black as night cover. It looks really cool, and it weighs a ton lol 😂 But yeah same here. That’s why I bought all the battle angel alitat special edition manga’s : they look awesome😀
Yeah I know what you mean. I had that same feeling with the Shannara series from Terry Brooks. They were really cool in the beginning, but eventually the stories were going downhill or were too similar to previous books.
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Deathnote did release a special Black edition of each of the 12 volumes, that were a tiny bit bigger than the regular tankuboun I had bought. But it wasn’t bigger enough for me to justify the pricepoint.
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The one I have (I just went to get it for you) is called the Deathnote All in one edition) It comes in a grey box 😊
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My problem with books of that size is that I”m worried about breaking the spine.
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Same here…I will let you know if that happens, when I start reading it😊😊
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It is hard to tell from the amazon picture, but is it the same dimensions as a regular manga? for depth and height I mean? Or is it bigger?
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It’s pretty much the same format as a regular manga. Not much bigger than that😊
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I’m intrigued, now. You rate Death Note as one of the best manga you’ve ever read? Moving it up my tbr list right now. Ah, Akira. I remember when I first started buying comics, I saw some individual issues in my local comic shop but the price was too high for a teenage paperboy. I could only afford Spider-Man and Batman…
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I enjoyed Death Note, the manga mind you, not the anime. I’ve read it 2-3 times and would pay just as much as I did for my Akira hardcovers for deathnote hardcovers. I can dream anyway 🙂
I can’t imagine buying Akira in the individual comics. That would end up costing a lot!
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Yes, I’ve heard other people rate the Death Note manga really highly. I will check it out, thanks. Those Akira issues were spotted back in the late 1980s when I was young and innocent and comics were cheap😉
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Nice linkage! I always enjoy seeing how you go through the degrees!
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sometimes I think about saying more for each book, but then I realize I only have so many words so I better save them for my reviews 😀
hahahahahaa!
Thanks.
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Nice! I like your links and interesting book choices. This meme looks like a lot of fun.
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It started out because I saw another blogger doing this and really liked it. Once I started doing it I realized I could ALSO create old book review posts, thus working on my blog while creating new content. Two birds with one stone and all that.
It is also a fun reminder of other books I’ve read in the past. It’s just so easy to forget!
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I really like that!
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I’ve been planning on checking out Hellsing at some point. It sounded fun but your mention of it devolving isn’t too encouraging. Then again, all manga series seem to go downhill by the end of the run though…. 😛
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Enjoy what you can of it. I gave it through the 7th volume I think before completely giving up?
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I haven’t read the manga of Deathnote, but I did enjoy the anime version of it. The movie (or movies?) I watched weren’t nearly as good as the anime series.
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What I did watch of the anime followed the manga very closely. I was impressed. I just didn’t like the color choices 😀
The live action movies were a real mixed bag, that is for sure. I enjoyed them but more because I was such a fan of the franchise than because of how great they actually were.
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I liked the anime a lot, but I don’t remember my thoughts on the color choices. Then again, I watched it without having read the manga, so maybe I wouldn’t have noticed any issues. 😉
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Heard a lot of good things about Deathnote. Same for Akira. When I get around to reading manga, I’ll keep these in mind 😀
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Yes, when that mythical “spare time” shows up that we all believe in 😉
They will give you a taste of what a quality story can be like for manga, that is for sure.
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Lorna Freeman’s first book “Covenants” is one of my all-time favorites. The second one was quite good. The third one was boring, and didn’t finish the series. I was annoyed by the decreasing quality, and then by the disappearance.
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I enjoyed the third one, but I wasn’t sure where she was going to go with it. I was not expecting her to go No Where with it 😀
I’ve always wondered what happened. Did she have 1 books worth of ideas but thought she had more? Did she die? Was she a fake name and the person didn’t care? If I ever win the lottery, I’ll hire a private detective and find out! 🙂
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