What's in the box?

I have a big blue box under my desk, and when a book, DVD or CD comes in for review I put it in the box. What's in my blue box today?

Just today I received a very attractive collection of indie comics, Magic Mirror, by Ed Pinsent. It's from Eibonvale Press, who previously published Ultrameta by Douglas Thompson, The Oz Suite by Gerard Houarner and the BFA-nominated Once & Future Cities by Allen Ashley, among others. I can't wait to start reading this. They seem to be a company that's really going places.

Today was a good day, because it also brought me a screener of Kaiji: the Ultimate Gambler, for review for the British Fantasy Society's news magazine, Prism (though the review will turn up on here too). It looks very interesting. Out on 26 July 2010 from 4Digital Media, it reunites the cast of Death Note (which I have to admit is still sitting on my V+ box). Kaiji is a young rogue who has to choose between spending ten years paying off his gambling debts, or one night on board a mysterious gambling boat. Does he get a sensible job in an office and pay off his debts, or does he risk everything on the most dangerous night of his life? I won't know until I've watched the movie, but I suspect I know the answer.

Henry VIII: Wolfman is the follow-up to the same author's Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, which I enjoyed without really loving. Like its predecessor it features a great cover image and a snappy tagline, but QV:DH (as fans might call it) left some interesting characters in the air, and I'm a little disappointed that instead this is a prequel (if indeed it's part of the same continuity). On the other hand, I haven't read a book like this set in this period, so that might give it a bit of interest.

Flirt and Bullet by Laurel K. Hamilton came in for review via Dark Horizons, and so any reviews of them will end up appearing on the British Fantasy Society website, possibly in Prism if they don't already have a review. I do hope Laurell K. Hamilton fans aren't the vindictive types, because so far I'm not enjoying Flirt at all. Both books have great covers, though.