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ceredonia's review against another edition
4.0
*received an ARC for review*
4.5 stars*
This book is written for fans. Fans of TV, comics, movies, all fans of all kinds. I LOVED all the references, the shout outs to all kinds of fandoms, the loving detail that went into coming up with future ideas that are completely plausible for the entertainment industry. I loved all of it.
It's too bad the story wasn't as good. It's a typical 'who dunnit' murder mystery, and it got kind of convoluted near the last third, but it was still enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's a major fan of the entertainment industry in general. I loved all the artwork throughout the book as well.
On a side note, I could totally see this being turned into an amazing one shot TV show or movie. It was so fun to recognize all the references thrown in (I'm a huge purveyor of all mediums of entertainment so this was completely up my alley). It would probably star Nathan Fillion.
4.5 stars*
This book is written for fans. Fans of TV, comics, movies, all fans of all kinds. I LOVED all the references, the shout outs to all kinds of fandoms, the loving detail that went into coming up with future ideas that are completely plausible for the entertainment industry. I loved all of it.
It's too bad the story wasn't as good. It's a typical 'who dunnit' murder mystery, and it got kind of convoluted near the last third, but it was still enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's a major fan of the entertainment industry in general. I loved all the artwork throughout the book as well.
On a side note, I could totally see this being turned into an amazing one shot TV show or movie. It was so fun to recognize all the references thrown in (I'm a huge purveyor of all mediums of entertainment so this was completely up my alley). It would probably star Nathan Fillion.
zombiecats's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
mirrormemory's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sonaderon's review against another edition
5.0
Should you read this book?
Have you ever been to SDCC? ECCC? Your local con?
Are you not confused by those questions?
Are you stareing at the book cover trying to identify all the characters?
Then yes. You should read this book.
Have you ever been to SDCC? ECCC? Your local con?
Are you not confused by those questions?
Are you stareing at the book cover trying to identify all the characters?
Then yes. You should read this book.
stateofmoregon's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
harrietj's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
3.0
This was a fast paced and enjoyable read. I can't say the mystery blew me away, but the book carried me along at such a pace that it hardly mattered. I did notice a couple of things that ought to have been caught in the edit - for example, the misspelling of Gryffindor. For a book that trades so heavily on its geek credentials, and is so clearly written by and for people within the community, to get things as simple as that wrong, is unacceptable, especially since the book goes out if its way to explain each geek reference that it makes - even when perhaps we the reader could have been trusted to 'get' the reference ourselves. But Fred van Lente does manage to convey all the sights, smells, and frustrations it major cons accurately and affectionately, so overall I forgive these few transgressions.
pokay's review against another edition
2.0
I so wanted to love this. It tried to be so many things and fell flat on almost all of it. It is such a pity because SDCC is such a great idea for a location of a murder mystery, but Van Lente failed to utilize this setting completely.
Where to begin?
First of all the main character: Mike. I have so many things to say about him, and none of them are good. He is a totally boring, bland, and forgettable character. Even having just finished the book a few hours ago I would struggle to describe him to someone. He comes off mostly problematic, pathetic, and petty. There were even points throughout the book where I forgot his name.
This was supposed to be a murder mystery, and Van Lente totally failed to convey that throughout this book. At no point are you able to really delve into the mystery, clues, motives etc. because Van Lente spends very little time on it.
This book comes off WAY to personal. It comes off more as 250 page rant about Van Lente's own opinions and feelings about comic con, the comic industry, Hollywood, Hollywood monetizing comic con, copyright, creator credit, sexism and sexual harassment in the industry. Which are all pretty valid arguments, but what are they all doing in this book? They aren't weaved in, they aren't really brought up in natural ways. He makes a point of standing up for the woman in the industry who have been treated badly - continue to be treated badly. He tries to rectify it, but then he goes on to make fun of people with disabilities and other very problematic opinions on minorities, while also shitting on fandoms and fans (while to be fair there are some toxic AF fandoms, he and Mike come off pretty much hating them) and causing us to forget about the good stuff he's written because he complains so damn much.
Van Lente uses this book to kill off a potential real-life person he had to deal with (guesses are former DC editor Eddie Berganza who has a history of sexual harassment against female co-workers) and the scary/creepy/greedy CEO is meant to be former Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter.
Now, this could have all been overlooked, if the mystery had been great. Too bad it sucked. I can't think of murder mystery I've read that was this bad. He has all these weird subplots that go nowhere, supposedly supporting characters who come and go at random and whose plot lines are randomly dropped, and don't even get me started on the weird half-ass "romance".
Overall, I'm just sad. This had so much potential, Van Lente knows this industry inside and out and mostly spends the book complaining about it angrily. It was a wasted opportunity to utilize one of the craziest events in Nerd culture and all it did was waste my time ranting about the industry in its current day state.
Where to begin?
First of all the main character: Mike. I have so many things to say about him, and none of them are good. He is a totally boring, bland, and forgettable character. Even having just finished the book a few hours ago I would struggle to describe him to someone. He comes off mostly problematic, pathetic, and petty. There were even points throughout the book where I forgot his name.
This was supposed to be a murder mystery, and Van Lente totally failed to convey that throughout this book. At no point are you able to really delve into the mystery, clues, motives etc. because Van Lente spends very little time on it.
This book comes off WAY to personal. It comes off more as 250 page rant about Van Lente's own opinions and feelings about comic con, the comic industry, Hollywood, Hollywood monetizing comic con, copyright, creator credit, sexism and sexual harassment in the industry. Which are all pretty valid arguments, but what are they all doing in this book? They aren't weaved in, they aren't really brought up in natural ways. He makes a point of standing up for the woman in the industry who have been treated badly - continue to be treated badly. He tries to rectify it, but then he goes on to make fun of people with disabilities and other very problematic opinions on minorities, while also shitting on fandoms and fans (while to be fair there are some toxic AF fandoms, he and Mike come off pretty much hating them) and causing us to forget about the good stuff he's written because he complains so damn much.
Van Lente uses this book to kill off a potential real-life person he had to deal with (guesses are former DC editor Eddie Berganza who has a history of sexual harassment against female co-workers) and the scary/creepy/greedy CEO is meant to be former Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter.
Now, this could have all been overlooked, if the mystery had been great. Too bad it sucked. I can't think of murder mystery I've read that was this bad. He has all these weird subplots that go nowhere, supposedly supporting characters who come and go at random and whose plot lines are randomly dropped, and don't even get me started on the weird half-ass "romance".
Overall, I'm just sad. This had so much potential, Van Lente knows this industry inside and out and mostly spends the book complaining about it angrily. It was a wasted opportunity to utilize one of the craziest events in Nerd culture and all it did was waste my time ranting about the industry in its current day state.
ks27's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
My review is based off of an advanced copy I received from Edelweiss.
Overall I thought the mystery quality was better than I expected but the main character irritated me. His tone was incredibly condescending for the majority of the book. That said there were points where I enjoyed his narration (few but they were there). I did enjoy the writing quality and the added images. The mystery was good and I adored the setting. Decent read, semi-quick, and I would recommend for a little summer reading.
My review is based off of an advanced copy I received from Edelweiss.
Overall I thought the mystery quality was better than I expected but the main character irritated me. His tone was incredibly condescending for the majority of the book. That said there were points where I enjoyed his narration (few but they were there). I did enjoy the writing quality and the added images. The mystery was good and I adored the setting. Decent read, semi-quick, and I would recommend for a little summer reading.
jackphoenix's review against another edition
4.0
It struggles as metafiction and as a mystery, but, if you resolve not to take it too seriously, this is a wonderful, easter egg-riddled romp through comicdom, a book sure to please fans of Ready Player One.
taran_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5