Writer and Podcaster
April 23, 2024
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast G Gundam, Gundam, hugh, Jason, Jurd, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Podcast repost Leave a comment
Welcome to Nostalgia Pilots!
Tonight, Hugh, Jason, and Jurd discuss G Gundam Episode 31: Dazzling Power of the Clown! Get Mad, Gundam Maxter!
In this episode, Chibodee relives his childhood trauma, the Jester Gundam is cool but disturbing, and pilot Romario Manini has Pennywise powers, maybe. Plus, the healing power of song, and Rain can’t take Domon anywhere.
April 18, 2024
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review audiobook, Claudia Alick, Fantasy, HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Max Gladstone, Three Parts Dead Leave a comment
Three Parts Dead
Written by Max Gladstone
Narrated by Claudia Alick
Audiobook Published by Blackstone Audio, Inc
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The Skinny: A high-magic fantasy novel that eschews the royal court for the courtroom.
Terra Abernathy is a craftswoman, a graduate of the Hidden Schools, and a young woman of incredible power, even if they did literally kick her out after graduating her. But she survived the long fall to the ground as well as the perilous desert crossing that followed.
After a brief visit home, she’s rescued/headhunted by the mysterious Ms. Kavarian, a partner at a prestigious craft firm. Craftspeople aren’t merely wielders of mystical powers fueled by starlight and the stolen secrets of the gods. They’re also professionals, offering their services in negotiation, arbitration, and other meta-legal matters. Ms. Kavarian is looking to recruit Ms. Abernathy, but first they have a difficult case ahead of them: settle the affairs of a dead god, and if possible, secure his resurrection.
The first novel in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence, Three Parts Dead is set in a world where magical contracts function like legal contracts, with wizards and liches acting much as lawyers and judges do in the real world. It’s a fascinating system, and Gladstone’s world-building is rich and detailed without becoming dry and overbearing on the story. The setting of Alt Calum and its surroundings is vibrant and bustling, with divine-powered technology, mystical architecture, and a colorful cast of mystics, priests, monsters and others.
No matter how strong the world-building, a story lives or dies based on its plot and characters, and Gladstone presents us with a city full of legalist magicians, shady priests, outcast gargoyles, vampire-chasing club kids, and love-sick gods. These are unique, and more importantly, well-realized characters that will worm their way into your heart and break it. Contracts have two sides, after all, and not everyone negotiates in good faith. Often characters are left considering if their goals are worth the costs.
I listened to Three Parts Dead as an audiobook read by Claudia Alick and produced by Blackstone Audio. Alick does an excellent job bringing the characters to life from nervous, chain-smoking acolyte Abelard to the terrifyingly professional Ms. Kavarian.
Three Parts Dead is a rollicking start to Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence. It is available in print from your local independent book store, digitally from the usual suspects, or in audio from Audible.com.
April 15, 2024
Hugh Likes Comics, Review Fantasy, Frieren, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Manga, Viz Leave a comment
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Vol. 1
Written by: Kanehito Yamada
Drawn by: Tsukasa Abe
Published by: VIZ Media LLC
The Skinny: Fantasy manga grows up.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is part of a new sub-genre of manga and anime that doesn’t merely adopt Western Fantasy tropes, but expands then into a deep examination of the characters and settings. After defeating The Demon King and restoring peace to the land, four adventurers go their separate ways. Elven mage Frieren goes back to her old life of wandering alone without much thought for her companions. When they meet again fifty years later, she finds that her companions have all aged, while she hasn’t changed at all. After their leader Himmel passes away, she realizes that she hardly knew anything about him, and goes on a journey both to learn more about her companions and herself. With such a long-lived central character, author Yamada and artist Abe are able to explore the themes in unique and interesting ways. They transform what appears to be a standard heroic fantasy story into a poignant examination of loss, regret, and the passage of time. The creators are able to play with the pacing of the story in interesting ways, having months or even years pass between chapters. The manga is filled with page sequences where months pass like days. Rather than feeling rushed, however, these sections evoke a sense of stillness and calm. The story also flashes back between the party’s original adventures and the current journey to great effect. Frieren often interacts with people she met in her travels who were children during their quest, and are now elderly. In one particularly interesting chapter, she visits a village where they sealed a demon, knowing that it will soon break free. This is somewhat of a one-off story, but the creators give a lot of insight into the world building and magic system of the setting. The demon was too powerful to defeat outright eighty years ago, but the development of magic has continued apace since he was sealed, in large part as part of an arms race to discover a defense for a particularly dangerous killing spell that the demon developed. Frieren unseals the demon, tells him that his king is dead, and after a short battle, kills him with his own spell. While he was sealed, the world, and the study of magic, had passed him by. His powerful magic became ordinary. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a melancholiac, thought-provoking, and beautiful examination of how we view the passage of time and our connections to others. It is available in print from your local comics shop or digitally from Comixology. There is also a new anime adaptation available through Crunchyroll!
March 1, 2024
Hugh Likes Video Games, Review HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Puzzle Game, review, Superliminal Leave a comment
Superliminal
Developed by Pillow Castle
Played on PC via Xbox Game Pass
The Skinny: A delightful if short puzzle game that puts your spacial reasoning and perspective to the test!
Framed as a session of lucid dreaming therapy, 2019’s Superliminal from developer Pillow Castle is a surprising and delightful little gem of a first person puzzle game. The game is set from a first person perspective, much like Valve’s smash hit Portal, and players must navigate puzzle rooms and solve perspective challenges in order to progress to each level’s exit. The primary mechanic revolves around perspective and object manipulation. Players can pick up objects and use the surroundings and changes in perspective to manipulate them by changing their size or shape. For example, players can pick up a block from a table, and by placing it correctly in the environment, change its size. This size change is neat, but can be a bit tricky to correctly implement. I found myself dancing with objects in order to get them to be the right size, often having them shrink on my with a careless push of the mouse.
Being set in a sort of a mad science experiment turned strip mall therapy office, the game wears its Portal inspiration on its sleeve, with a snarky AI, enigmatic voice messages from the technology’s developer, and ominous whiteboard messages. The writing is never quite as sharp or as funny as Portal, but it is clever, and it doesn’t get quite as cynical either. Objects and locations are fun and surprising, and the puzzles were tricky without being too frustrating.
Clocking in at just a couple of hours, Superliminal doesn’t really have too much meat on its bones beyond the couple hours of single-player campaign. But what it does provide is fun and engaging. It is the perfect game to while away a winter afternoon with a mug of something warm nearby.
Superliminal is available as a download for PC, Xbox, Playstation network, and Nintendo Switch.
February 28, 2024
Hugh Likes Anime, Review HLA, Hugh Likes Anime, Netflix, review, Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Leave a comment
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Produced by Science SARU
Watched on Netflix
The Skinny: Scott Pilgrim minus Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim was a comic, video game, and movie that came along at just the right time in my life. I read it just after I’d gotten back from spending a year teaching abroad and while working my first adult job. While I was a few years older than the characters (late 20’s rather than early-to-mid 20s,) the series full of early-life crises, romantic angst, actual queer characters not partitioned into their own strange literary spaces (!) along with a slew of indie rock and retro video game references was perfect Hugh-bait.
And gosh darn it if 2023’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off hasn’t done it again. Based on the source material, the series takes a wild swing at the end of the first episode, launching into a whole new direction. I’ll try as be as spoiler-free as possible, but the key difference is that after the first episode, which closely follows the first volume of the comic up until the last thirty seconds, Scott is separated from the rest of the cast.
This is a brilliant move, changing the focus of the series from the erstwhile slacker protagonist Scott Pilgrim to flawed, enigmatic manic pixie dream girl Ramona. Following Ramona lets the audience into her head in a way that the comic and movies don’t. We get to see the real character, rather than Scott’s indentation of her. And without Scott to fight, the colorful cast of evil exes all get to shine and grow in different directions, which are fascinating and hilarious.
Most of the cast of the film reprises their roles as voice actors, and they do an outstanding job returning to those roles. It was particularly great to see these actors get more time to inhabit and play with their characters. Brandon Routh and Chris Evans in particular shine with their extra screen time. There’s even a musical cameo by the band Metric that shines as both a great cover and an excellent gag.
The animation is gorgeous and dynamic, and the writing captures the goofy charm of the comics in a way that the live-action movie never could. At its heart, this is a story about the world’s dumbest martial artists running around shouting, and the series takes that Ranma 1/2-like energy and runs with it. The fights (and of course there are still fights) are especially well-animated, with creative premises and clever twists. The fight between Roxy and Ramona in the video store in episode 3 is a particular standout.
In the end, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is about self reflection, the ways we heal (or don’t) from trauma, and learning to both let go of and embrace the past, while still being as much irreverent and silly fun as the original. It takes time to examine the characters in ways that the movie didn’t, and I heartily recommend it, even if you were turned off by the movie back in the day. This may just turn you around.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is available to stream through Netflix.
February 27, 2024
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Uncategorized G Gundam, hugh, Jurd, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Podcast repost, Spence Leave a comment
Welcome to Nostalgia Pilots! This week, Hugh, Jurd and Spence consider Mobile Fighter G Gundam #30: Beautiful Fighter: Dangerous Allenby!
This week, Domon wrecks an arcade machine, Allenby has cold fists, and Rain is totally fine with this. Plus, Argo gets Worfed out of the gate, and the Noble Gundam has strong ribbon game.
February 20, 2024
Hugh Likes Comics, Review Comics Review, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Manga, review, Sand Land, Viz Leave a comment
Sand Land
Written and Drawn by Akira Toriyama
Published by Viz
Read in digital format on Amazon Kindle
The Skinny: Akira Toriyama’s “Mad Max”
With a major adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s short manga Sand Land set to be adapted into a video game this spring, I finally decided to fill a hole in my collection of the great manga artist, and I’m glad I did. This single-volume adventure is a charming delight. Originally published in 2001, the single volume is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth where the remaining survivors live in a desert ruled over by a despotic king with control over the dwindling water supply.
When the elderly Sheriff Rao embarks on a dangerous journey across the desert, he makes a deal with the demons for help, promising them not his soul, but a rare Playstation 6 video game console. Beelzebub, an apparently adolescent prince of the demons agrees to accompany him along with his servant, Thief.
The resulting adventures is a little bit ‘Fist ‘of the North Star,’ a little bit ‘Peewee’s Big Adventure,’ and it oozes Toriyama’s signature humor and charm. From a stolen tank in Toriyama’s signature bulbous design style to a family of bandits dressed as olympic swimmers, this version of the post-apocalypse doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still managing to have a hard-hitting, emotional story at its heart.
While not as long-running or complex as some of his earlier work, Sand Land displays all of the skill and humor that Toriyama is known for but sometimes gets lost amid the big fights and drama of his best-known work. It is a work created by a master given the opportunity to just play without the demands of continuity to previous works. The result is a book that is as joyful as it is dramatic, a satire and critique of hyper-masculine action-zests like Mad Max and Fist of the North Star, and an empathetic post-apocalypse where even the demons aren’t bad guys at heart.
I’m greatly looking forward to the upcoming video game adaptation of this story, coming this spring for PC and Playstation. Even if you don’t have any interest, I recommend picking up this heartwarming story about survival and justice after the end of the world. You can read Sand Land digitally from Viz and other comics retailers, or in print from your Local Comic Shop or wherever you buy manga.
February 17, 2024
Review, Self-Promotion, The Way of the Buffalo, Uncategorized Fiction, Free Fiction, hugh, Hugh Likes Comics, Hugh Likes Fiction, review, The Way of the Buffalo Leave a comment
Hello Readers!
Welcome to The Way of the Buffalo, my new weekly roundup newsletter! If you are receiving this via email, it is because you’ve subscribed to my WordPress blog, and they have rolled out email integration. My plan going forward will be to continue blogging during the week, with a digest post on Saturdays with links to the individual posts. I’ll also be including announcements, links, and other thoughts here, with a bonus piece of flash fiction or a serialized story at the end.
Thanks for reading!
This Week in Reviews:
Since it was Valentine’s Day, this week’s reviews were romantic. I hope you had a good week, wether or not you were spending it with someone.
The Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special – Hugh Likes Comics
I’m only a casual fan of giant monsters, but this one-shot issue was a ton of fun.
A Market of Dreams and Destiny – Hugh Likes Fiction
This was one of my favorite novels from last year, and the narrator crushed it for the audiobook version.
This week’s fiction – “Captcha”
Click on all the images that contain crabs, the computer instructed. I stared at the collection of underwater creatures, choosing the images. My mouse hovered over the last decapod as I considered the features of the creature in the image. It looked like a crab. I clicked on it, and hit ‘submit.’
A dialog box cheerfully informed me that I had failed the security captcha, and that my login would be locked for the next hour. I sighed and closed my laptop. Not for the first time, I was a victim of carcinization.
The squat lobsters had gotten me again.
Want more flash fiction? Check out my collect, The Mountain’s Shadow!
Have a great week!
February 15, 2024
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review Fantasy, HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, LGBTQ, review, Trip Galey, Victorian London 1 Comment
A Market of Dreams and Destiny
Written by Trip Galey
Audiobook read by Will Watt
Published by W. F. Howes, LTD.
The Skinny: Let’s Make a Deal: Victorian Fey Edition
Deri is an apprentice in the Untermarcht, the goblin market hidden beneath London where anything is for sale for the right price, and no one takes anything so prosaic as coin. Well, not so much an apprentice as an indentured servant to one of the most powerful and cruel fairy merchants. But he’s picked up a few tricks, and he has a plan to buy his freedom. But his plans are all derailed when meets Owain, a young man also laboring under an indenture in a dangerous workhouse in London above. In order to get the guy and escape their bondholders with both their skins intact, Deri is going to have to make the deal of a lifetime. Fortunately, a runaway princess has appeared in the Untermarcht with a destiny to sell… A Market of Dreams and Destiny is a charming fantasy novel set in a very different Victorian London. In a world where King Henry VIII struck a deal with the old gods of the British Isles, the city is filled with mercantile magic with a deadly edge. Galey’s characters spring to life against a strange world where the uncanny is hidden in the fine print, and the loopholes can very literally bind you. The magic system of contracts and deals was delightful and surprising, and it meshed well with the delightful and engaging cast of quick-thinking merchants, greedy factory owners, and put-upon royal bodyguards. The magic elevates the characters from what could’ve been twee Dickensian cliches to fleshed out and engaging players in a gripping drama. But the real charm in this fantasy is the sweet and charming gay romance between Deri and Owain. Not without its complications, this was the best romance I’ve read in some time. I was glad that Trip didn’t shy away from just the right hint of spice and salacious implication. It felt much more well-rounded and believable for it. I listened to this book in audio. The audiobook, read by Will Watt, is a delight. Watt breathes life into the cast and setting, from the tiniest bell to the terrifying merchant lords of the market. A Market of Dreams and Destiny is one of last year’s best fantasies, but has fallen slightly under the radar. This hidden gem is well worth your time. It is available in Audio, print, and ebook from the usual sources.
February 13, 2024
Hugh Likes Comics, Review Comics, Godzilla, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, IDW, kaiju, reviews 1 Comment
Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special #1
Written by: Zoe Tunnel
Drawn by: Sebastian Piriz
Colored by: Rebecca Nalty
Lettered by: Johanna Nattalie
Published by IDW
The Skinny: Spoiler alert: Godzilla doesn’t find romance.
For the most part, the thing that irritates me the most about Hollywood adaptations of properties such as Godzilla or Transformers is the repeated attempts to force the narrative into a human story. I cared very little for the humans when the story should be about the transforming robots or giant monsters that have secured top billing. But as a one-off story, I really enjoyed this comic, which focuses on the relationship between a, for lack of a better term, dai kaiju chaser, and an EDF lieutenant trying to keep her out of harm’s way.
When Piper is caught up in a Godzilla attack while at work, she’s 1. critically injured, and 2. suddenly unemployed. But the sight of seeing the giant monster so close was exhilarating. She begins studying and chasing the giant monsters. When Sauveterre finds her running towards the danger instead of away from it, they try and stop her, through steadily escalating means, for her own safety. A cat-and-mouse game ensues, and this being a valentine’s day comic, I’m pretty sure you know where it’s heading.
The writing is light and sweet, with just enough kaiju action to feel like we see enough of the behemoths to justify their presence in the story. The characters work because they don’t come on too thick and feel appropriately small compared to the giant monsters they are chasing.
The art is clean and engaging, with bright colors. It is a good match for the tone of the story, and a sunny, personal contrast for the usual Godzilla stories. The reader gets a good view of the monsters, but almost always at a remove, contrasting the personal conflict with global ones.
Godzilla:Valentine’s Day Special is a fun little one-shot comic, even if you aren’t a romance reader or a fan of giant monsters. You can pick up a copy digitally through Amazon, or in print at your Local Comics Shop!
Hugh J. O'Donnell 