Novel List

Cyberpunk | The Electric Church -- Jeff Somers

The rich and the poor are about as distinct as possible. The story follows a hired gunman and his troubles with the law and the Electric Church. The Church is a group of cyborgs who preach salvation through immortality and mechanization.

Science Fiction | Off Armageddon Reef -- David Weber

Mankind is attacked and completely outmatched by an aggressive alien race. The final safeguard against extinction is to send a colony of people with their memories wiped to a far distant world to begin anew. Their society is designed to prevent all innovation since the aliens would otherwise be able to detect electrical and radio emissions and other such things. The plan does not work exactly as expected.

Science Fiction | The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress -- Robert Heinlein

The descendants of prisoners sent to the moon are still being treated like second class citizens. I don't want to spoil anything, just read the book.

Science Fantasy | The  Book Of The New Sun -- Gene Wolfe

Severian, a man who claims to have perfect memory recounts the story of his life. He is an apprentice of the Seekers For Truth And Penitence (The Guild Of Torturers), until his expelled for commiting the cardinal sin of giving mercy. He is sentenced to traveling to bumfuck nowhere as a punishment. The first part of the story is mainly about how he gets horribly sidetracked.

Western Fantasy | A Game Of Thrones (A Song Of Ice And Fire) -- George R. R. Martin

One of the single greatest works of fantasy fiction I've ever read. It focuses less on magic and strange creatures than it does on humanity. It's all about the political and personal motivations of each character. I don't like all the characters equally, but there's plenty to choose from.

Comics

Postcyberpunk | Transmetropolitan -- Warren Ellis

I refuse to spoil this. Just think of it as sort of like Hunter S. Thompson in the FUTURE!!

Western Fantasy | Berserk -- Kentaro Miura

Guts was once a mercenary but is now plagued by demons. He is constantly hunted because of a brand on his neck. Berserk is delightfully violent and it has a great story.

Psychological Thriller | Death Note -- Tsugumi Ohba

What happens when you give the power to instantly grant death to an overachieving yet mentally disturbed student.

Eastern Fantasy | Blade Of The Immortal

Manji, a wandering swordsman, is given the "gift" of immortality. In order to finally die himself he must rid the world of a thousand evil men.

Super Hero | Batman : The Long Halloween -- Jeph Loeb

The story of Harvey Dent and his descent into insanity. Think of it as sort of like The Godfather Meets Batman.

?????????? | Preacher -- Garth Ennis

Umm... just read this one.

Collage - Mixed Media

A Collage is an artistic creation made by assembling different parts (or media) into a new whole. Kind of the salad of the art world.

Use what you've got

One of the wonderful things about making a collage is the lack of rules or forms to follow. Chances are, you've got a ton of stuff available with which to build new expressions.

Stickers, newspaper clippings, old photos, drawings you've made, letters and notes, product labels, and on and on... There is a virtually limitless supply of stuff, with different colours and textures, meanings and connotations, and it's all fair game.

Just look around your house (with an open mind) and you'll be amazed at the treasure trove of creative media you've got to work with.

Use what you find

Many wonderful things can be had for free, simply by keeping your eyes open. As the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Sometimes, an object's beauty and relevance is not evident until it is combined in a creative way with some other object or background to provide new context.

Junk yards, yard sales, flyers and signs, objects found lying on the street, trinkets from thrift stores, you name it. Some of the most powerful artistic expression can come from so-called normal, everyday objects. (I mean, look at Worhol, right?)

Tools of the trade

The right tool for the job is the one that best gets the job accomplished. Collages are no exception to this rule, and luckily we have plenty of good tools to express ourselves with.

Adhesives - There are a number of different adhesives out there, some stick some things together better, and others are more suited for other materials. When choosing an adhesive, you'll want to consider a few things, such as the meterials being glued, the way the objects are being attached, the humidity and temperature where the resulting piece is likely to be stored, etc.

Cutting devices - Pretty self explanatory. Some times you'll need to cut a piece loose or trim it so it fits into your collage. Again, different tools are better suited to different types of cutting.

Digital compositing - Digital tools have recently exploded in power, and now offer several useful methods of combining media. In fact, some collages can be strictly digital (e.g. combining multimedia sources into one collective presentation). Conversely, the computer can be used to synthesize a part which will then be included in the collage (e.g. combining images, or doing image processing, then taking the output (printed image) and using that in your project).

Media playback devices - Actual playback devices can be included in a collage project to provide dynamic or interactive qualities (e.g. embedding an lcd screen into your collage, so as to provide a video loop, thereby making part of your collage animated).

Sky's the limit

The Collage medium provides a break out from the bounds of traditional media forms by combining them into new items.

Mixed media can allow you to present your ideas and emotions on a variety of levels, or can simply provide a new take on more traditional presentations.

New textures, new formats, new channels for expression.