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Title: Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod
Author: Beau Riffenburgh
Published: 2004
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 305
Total Page Count: 557,485
Text Number: 2096
Read Because: cold boys secondary sources; this is a belated review from summer last year and for the life of me I cannot remember how I got my hands on the book
Review:
Riffenburgh is a mediocre technical writer, which makes for clumsy sentence construction and scene transitions. And while I can't fault his research, his agenda is weirdly obvious—he's a complicated and critical Shackleton stan, which nevertheless makes him a Wilson and Scott hater. But, structurally, this is well-balanced: Shackleton's reputation as the failure of the British National Antarctic Expedition vs. the image fostered in the rest of his career hinges at the Nimrod, so there's a lot of the Discovery but a willingness to skim later and better-known details of the Endurance.

As for Shackleton. 1) He reminds me of Borchgrevink of the Southern Cross, chasing fame, uninterested in science, not very good at planning; Shackleton's rapport with (select of) his men and aptitude for leadership sets him apart, but it's clear that public response to the Southern Cross vs. the Nimrod was fueled purely by British chauvinism. 2) He's insufferable! 3) The excess of close calls in the return journeys from both geographic and magnetic pole attempts further cements my opinion that trying to identify the exact causes of Scott's failure in 1912 is a situation of forest and trees, the problem more fundamental than any specifics: as soon as you start a man-hauling across the Antarctic, you are one unlucky run from death.

It's a janky read, but I'm grateful this exists; there's a regretful dearth of secondary sources about the not-big-name Antarctic expeditions. And oh, how I wish more of the journals had ever been published!

First five star within the first week of January; can't hate that. The fact that it also gets my favorite tag is also surely a coincidence and not indicative of the fact that I'm swayed by personal taste. Anyway, Of Thunder & Lightning was incredible. Still on a Silver Sprocket binge.


Title: The Sucker
Author: Elle Shivers
Published: Silver Sprocket, 2023
Rating: 1.5 of 5
Page Count: 65
Total Page Count: 556,810
Text Number: 2092
Read Because: reading the publisher, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library via Hoopla
Review: Reunited by an ecological study in advance of commercial development, two estranged friends enter into an antagonistic romantic relationship. Good intentions, but lackluster execution on all fronts. Characters and even timelines are difficult distinguish in the simplified art style, muddying an underdeveloped script; the metaphor the heart of the story works, but fails to come alive.


Title: Of Thunder & Lightning
Author: Kimberly Wang
Published: Silver Sprocket, 2023
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 80
Total Page Count: 556,890
Text Number: 2093
Read Because: reading the publisher, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library via Hoopla
Review: Two magical-girl cyborgs fight on opposite sides of a commercialized, televised war for humanity. I can be in no ways unbiased: this could have been written just for me, so I'm blind to flaws. Star-crossed love known and enacted in the intimacy of violence would be enough to do it for me, but this also has gratifying layout tricks and a dynamic style that's especially good at capturing the combative and conflicted expressions that the narrative demands. I read it twice for sheer pleasure; I can't wait to see what


Title: Sugar & Other Stories
Author: Joy San
Published: Silver Sprocket, 2023
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 557,050
Text Number: 2094
Read Because: reading the publisher, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library via Hoopla
Review: Collections are perforce a mixed bag, and this is no exception; but I like it more than not, which wasn't what I was expecting when greated with the simplistic, cartoony art style awash in negative space. But it works surprisingly well, both to contrast the horror and when broken up by more painterly, dense panels. The brevity makes some of the stories feel gimmicky, but what playful, unsettling creativity! Standouts for me are the sensual "I Like to Squeeze into Tight Places," the more developed "Too Much on Your Plate," and the perfect simplicity of "At the End."