Crackpot Doctor Who Theories: River Song is the TARDIS.

What a theory eh?

Well, I have various reasons that back up my notion that DOCTOR WHO character River Song (who first showed up in Moffat’s series 4, David Tennant episode SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY) is actually a human manifestation of the TARDIS.

So let’s get to my crackpot theory now shall we?

Who is River Song? She shows up and meets the Tenth Doctor in SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY and not only claims to know the Doctor, but know him well…or at least a future version of him. She has a diary full of things they’ve done together and even has a sonic screwdriver that looks a lot like his. The issue is that they keep meeting in the wrong order and are basically rushing past each other in opposite directions in time and while her meeting with him in SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY is her last for her, it’s his first of many encounters going the other way. That will presumably end with him meeting a much younger version of River Song who doesn’t know him. Follow me? So even when she appears again in the eleventh Doctor’s time (FLESH & STONE and TIME OF THE ANGELS) he knows her, but still not really. She knows how to call to him from anyplace and time in the universe but he doesn’t know how she knows him so well.

So what leads me to believe that she is actually a human version of his TARDIS?

Well, it all started with hearing about the Series 6 episode that Neil Gaiman has written called THE DOCTOR’S WIFE in which the Doctor finds himself in a spaceship graveyard and the rumor is that Suranne Jones who plays a character called Idris (TARDIS sounding ain’t it?) is actually the Doctor’s wife. Who could BE the Doctor’s wife? Why his TARDIS of course! He loves his ship. Loves it. Calls it sexy at times.

So how does this lead me to River then?

Well, if there CAN be a human representation of the TARDIS (and Suranne Jones version looks to be dressed very Victorian) then why can’t that representation change and look like someone different?

To make this easier, I’d like to set out my reasons in point form for you all:

River Song = TARDIS

-River carries with her a diary. A blue one cut with the panels on the cover to look like a TARDIS.

-She knows the Doctor's true name!

-She also carries a sonic screwdriver that looks like Ten’s sonic.

-She at certain points has had Jack Harkness’ wrist-time-traveling device, an item the tenth Doctor confiscated for a time. An item specifically made by his people to police time and could not be gotten by her any other way than being in (or part of) the TARDIS.

-She also carries the Squareness Gun, another item once owned by Captain Jack Harkness and confiscated by the Ninth Doctor (in the Moffat penned episode from Series 1, THE DOCTOR DANCES) and likely then resided in the TARDIS.

-She can fly the TARDIS by herself (a feat the Doctor can’t fathom), knows where the blue stabilizers are (another thing the Doctor didn’t know about), and can land it without the brakes on (the Doctor always leaves the brakes on resulting in the telltale VWAARP VWAARP sound).

-She has been in the TARDIS during two different occasions when the TARDIS was in mortal peril, once in the loop at the end of the series 5 finale, THE BIG BANG and survived.

-When the Doctor meets her again in the Series 6 opener THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT his first words for her are “Okay, what have you got for me this time?” the very same words he spoke to the TARDIS when standing in front of it after it regenerated itself during the Series 5 opener THE ELEVENTH HOUR.

-In THE PANDORICA OPENS when River sees Amy's raggedy Doctor dolls in her house she says "I don't know why I ever let you out." Think about that statement...really think about it.

-He always refers the TARDIS as she (but all captains do that about their ships so that may be nothing)

Of course at this point this is grain of salt, huge ridiculous speculation and whatnot, but for some reason a lot of this stuff just seems to click for this theory.

There is also the other theory that River is Amy’s future daughter (Amy has preggers stomach pains in THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT and River seems to have phantom sympathy pains) and that the man she kills is Rory who would be her actual father. But that one is an even wilder speculation than my above nonsense.

Haha.

Anyway, it’s just something to think about as we head into the second part of the season-opener (THE DAY OF THE MOON) tomorrow night.

Fantasy: A Love Letter

Let’s talk about fantasy shall we?

When it comes to entertainment mediums other than books, fantasy has until recently maintained a relatively “below the radar” “not for mainstream masses” type behaviour. Sure there are exceptions to the rule, but mostly before the mid to late 1990’s fantasy films and television shows were usually scattered, not well produced and considered more in terms of a joke than anything.

Sci-Fi differs because it has nearly ALWAYS enjoyed a healthy life in both these mediums. People were always willing to accept space and futurism into the mainstream (Star Trek the original series, Pulp serials), but for every five or six sci-fi shows or films over the years there would only be one WIZARD OF OZ, or EXCALIBRE or LEGEND in any given year or even decade. 

I was never really sure I understood mainstream masses acceptance of sci-fi, but seemingly wholesale dismissal of most fantasy. So much so that film and TV networks thought that the properties were not going to make enough money for them. Shows like Wonder Woman in the 70’s, or Beauty & The Beast in the 80’s were anomalies that succeeded not because of their fantastical nature, but because of how they drew viewers in to character relationships, and specific plot details. Movies fared far fewer between as well. Yes, the 80’s gave us THE PRINCESS BRIDE, CONAN, WILLOW, THE NEVERENDING STORY, LEGEND, and LABYRINTH which succeeded (some more than others though), but there was also LADYHAWKE, EXCALIBRE, DRAGONSLAYER, BEASTMASTER and TIME BANDITS that received less approval (back then at any rate…most of those are cult hits now by the nostalgia-pack) from the public. Part of that is surely the production value that the companies who made them were able to sink into them, and the fact that special effects could only look so realistic at the time. For some reason sci-fi flourished while fantasy languished from year to year. Movies like E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, STAR WARS and STAR TREK (films) seemed to solidify sci-fi’s mass appeal so that whole families, teens or even single adults had no trouble tromping out to the theatre to see the latest spacey goodness.

It wasn’t until the mid 1990’s that things started to turn around. I remember the poster for some lame fantasy film with grown up rat/kangaroos of something and thinking to myself “Wow, I haven’t seen a proper fantasy film since 1989’s WILLOW.” And though the movie was probably going to be crap, it made me think maybe….just maybe fantasy (my fave genre) was going to be coming back. In 1991 HOOK came out and people liked it. Sure, it carried the name of Spielberg but at least it was something. Disney had started it’s animated renaissance with THE LITTLE MERMAID, and early superhero movies were starting to come out like BATMAN RETURNS, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. On TV BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had begun and started renewed interest in all things supernatural, and the juggernaut it became by the end of the 1990’s was impressive.

Where though, was classic fantasy hiding. You know what I mean. Where were our epic’s to rival STAR WARS, or STAR TREK? They’d not shown up yet…but, little did I know that in the mid 1990’s (with CGI special effects being proven to be VERY impressive with films like JURASSIC PARK) a New Zealander by the name of Peter Jackson who had just finished work on his “afterlife ghost” film THE FRIGHTENERS (one of my faves, if you haven’t seen it you absolutely should!!) was pondering why no one had yet made THE LORD OF THE RINGS into a film (other than Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated version).

I still remember being at work and seeing the teaser trailer for the whole trilogy of films the first time and thinking…”Finally! Here it is. Here is our epic!”

How little I knew. That THE LORD OF THE RINGS became such a huge insanely popular film series was great enough on its own, but then along came the HARRY POTTER films as well (Read: the 3rd film in 2004 solidified with the masses and not just book fans). What was a very popular book series has now (all these years later) become one of the longest, most respected, most engaging film series of all time. Seriously, think about it. EIGHT films. Eight. Every last one of them a classic now in its own way. The first two are arguably the most childlike and the least of the films, but even they are respectable films with a who’s who of British thespians at the fore. With the last film debuting this summer it could not look more epic. I never thought I’d see a serial that was so consistently GOOD with each film. Think about it. No other series in history of celluloid is this consistent. So, we have the two major fantasy properties LOTR and POTTER as our huge planet-like fantasy classic epic’s. But what’s better, is that orbiting them are satellites that consist of Superhero films (like THE DARK KNIGHT, and X-MEN), The MUMMY films, the BLADE films, the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN films, The HELLBOY films (or anything by Guillermo Del Toro), The UNDERWORLD films, and many others. Basically between 2000 and 2011 the list and number of fantasy properties has grown exponentially revolving around the two columns of rock that are LOTR and HP. Jackson is even bringing us back to his film version of Middle Earth with a new set of films based on THE HOBBIT (just started shooting last month), and I am sure we are all excited to return.

Now we can even add TV to that, in 2004 ABC began a 6 year journey with a fantasy/sci-fi edge called LOST, BUFFY continued till 2003 and spun off into other media, SMALLVILLE has been on the air for ten years, SUPERNATURAL has a huge following, even HEROES was successful for a time. We’ve come a LONG way from XENA and HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEY’S. 

HBO ups the class factor now by adapting on of my favourite book series (George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE) into a very excellently produced, acted, and presented show called GAME OF THRONES.

What does this whole post mean? Why do I go on and on here? Well it’s simple. I am absolutely over the moon happy because right now, just over a decade into the new millennium…it is an incredible time to be a fantasy fan.

To all our readers, be happy that you live now, for within this fantasy renaissance exists all the dreams and wonders that have enthralled you in books since you were a kid. This is our time. Now.

TV Review: HBO's Game Of Thrones Episode 2 (The Kingsroad)

 

 Chris and I will be alternating reviews for the episodes, so will get both our overall viewpoints hopefully. Since he did episode 1, I’ll be handling this one.

Titled THE KINGSROAD, episode 2 of HBO’s GAME OF THRONES ramps up the story while apparently maintaining its viewership numbers (and being basically awesome for HBO). So much so that after the first episode aired it was greenlit for a second season. Excellent!

Following directly on the heels of the first episode, Bran Stark survived his fall, but is in a coma watched over by his distraught mother Catelyn. Tyrion Lannister has decided to join Jon Snow and Benjen Stark in their trip north to the Wall (to see such a majesty of an edifice and to "piss off the edge of the world"). Meanwhile Ned takes Sansa and Arya with him south on the road to Kings Landing (to become the new Hand of the King) joining the King, Queen and their entourage, leaving Robb (eldest son) in charge of Winterfell in his absence.

The episode gets off to a great start and we get some of the key conversations form the book. Jon Snow’s conversations with both Jaime Lannister and then Tyrion Lannister are equally telling and completely different in tone. Jaime is mocking, and Tyrion is imparting actual wisdom. The trip to the Wall mostly takes a back seat to the trip south on the Kingsroad as viewers will run into their first real view of what Prince Joffrey Baratheon is really like, and Sansa’s blinded admiration of him simply because he is a prince. The scene with Arya and the butcher boy playing at swords with sticks is so perfect and for me (as a big fan of the books) Maise Williams who plays Arya is spot on in everything she does throughout her tussle with Joff and up to Nymeria being sent off is bang on. The surprise here is when there is no Nymeria to punish and Lady is put up for death instead, Sophie Turner (who plays Sansa Stark) shows why she was hired to play the role. When she screams and cries that Lady is gentle and did nothing I really felt it, and even later when Jory Cassel embraces her you feel it. That scene is so good that when Ned has to do his part there is this extra layer of emotion added to an already sad scene. I was wholly impressed by both Sophie Turner and Maise Williams in this ep. Jack Gleeson hasn’t yet blown me away as nasty prince Joffrey, he makes all the faces and whatnot but he has yet to show me that he can pull off the complete and total stain that is Joffrey. I’ll give him time and hope he fills the role properly. Daenerys' plotline picks back up as Khal Drogo’s horse clan makes its way to their home Vaes Dothrak and is all about sex this episode. In fact it brings to attention and gives a reason for all the doggie-style sex in the first episode (other than Jaime and Cersei obviously, but that’s another beast…one with two backs :P ), and VIA Doreah, one of Daenerys Westeros-raised handmaidens she finds a way to make the best of her situation and have Drogo see her as something more than just a wife and a lay. I’m glad they’ve addressed that early on as their story is about so much more and I want them to get to that, so it’s nice to see things developing in that direction on episode 2.

The standout though? Even though Sansa and Arya were amazing…

...Catelyn.

My god, the assassination scene with her protecting Bran was the best thing in both episodes so far aired. It was visceral, brutal and showcases that Catelyn is not someone to be messed with. I mean she grabs the blade of the dagger with her hands and as it must obviously be scraping against muscle and bone she still pushes it away. Sorry, but she officially gets the badassery award for that scene alone. Then of course the ending makes for even more awesome and things to come. I was worried about Michelle Fairley at first, but after this episode I am completely confident she can do Catelyn total justice.

My other favourite moment? Tyrion telling off Joffrey for being so flippant about Bran's "accident", and so he puts the prince in his place and slaps him not once, not twice but THRICE! Man that was made of win. So great. Peter Dinklage has absolutely OWNED the role of Tyrion from minute one. He is perfect in every way. I think he actually chews scenery as well as Sean Bean does in fact. I am mesmerized every time he is on screen. Some of that is likely how much I like Tyrion as a character, but I just think Dinklage took this character and made him twenty times more brilliant.

A really solid second episode in a series that I so far have very few complaints with. I honestly think that so far my only real issues would be with the Daenerys actress Emilia Clarke not being as close to the character from the book as I want, but I can see shades of her, so hopefully that will grow as the episodes air. That’s a nitpick though. To me, so far everything else has been great.

Bring on the next episode LORD SNOW!

GREEN LANTERN - TV Spot

DAMN.

I think this movie is finally coming together.

Book Review - WONDER by Robert J. Sawyer

Webmind, the world’s first naturally occurring artificial intelligence has just survived an assassination attempt on his life by WATCH, the US agency responsible for overseeing the nation’s Internet security. Now, wary of the tenuous nature of his own existence, Webmind must convince the people of the world of the purity of his intentions and stave off another attempt at his life.

Of course none of this would be possible without Caitlin Decter, a 15 year old formerly sightless teenager, who’s experimental vision is directly responsible for helping Webmind come into being. Caitlin is Webmind’s human face to the world, appearing on television and helping the A.I. plead his case in front of the United Nations.

But the world is still afraid of what Webmind can do. Despite his attempts at increasing the net happiness of humanity there are forces at work within the government that won’t rest until Webmind is destroyed. It’s a race against time, man versus machine in struggle that could determine the fate of humanity.

I can’t review WONDER, by Robert J. Sawyer, the third instalment of his WWW trilogy, without first talking about THE WEALTHY BARBER. WB was a Canadian financial self help book from the mid 90s that attempted to teach money sense to readers through a novel length allegory. Roy, a well to do barber, would have friendly chats with his customers and in doing so would reveal essential truths about the nature of finance to them over the course of his tales. High art it wasn’t, but it got the job done.

WONDER is the WEALTHY BARBER of artificial intelligence. Sawyer does a great job at advancing genuinely interesting theories and chatting knowledgably about what the emergence of A.I. could look like, but the plot of his book is paper thin (yukyuk) and its only purpose is to serve as backdrop for his ideas. I want to be really clear about this. WONDER is a captivating read, but for all the wrong reasons.

Its more education than entertainment, and for a novel that purports to be a work of fiction, that’s a problem for me.

The plot is lacking. There’s never any real sense of the story’s stakes, no escalating conflicts to provide grist for the reader’s mill. Instead the audience is treated to a series of moderately threatening obstacles which Webmind hurdles with ease every time. The story’s prime antagonist, Peyton Hume, is a paranoid military scientist who never manages to present a credible threat to the worldwide A.I. Instead he’s reduced to skulking in corners, making dire prognostications and wholly unable to meaningfully follow through on any of his plans.

This is a trait of many of Sawyer’s characters. Aside from Caitlin most of the characters in the novel are completely two dimensional. They are, for all intents and purposes, straw men, being of no real substance, no goals and objectives of their own and who’s only function is to parrot the opinions and theories of the author.

How else do you explain the wildly unnecessary chapter about the validity of atheism, a recurring hobby horse of Sawyer’s, but one that has no real bearing on the subject matter at hand.

The best character seem to have a life and essence all their own, but Sawyer treats his characters like chess pieces, moving them casually from point a to b, in order to ensure they complete their given tasks and are in place for the novel's climax. And once these characters do fulfill their roles they are simply plucked from the board, never to be heard from again and their plot lines never satisfactorily resolved.

In fact WONDER reads a lot like an essay at times. At the beginning of a chapter Sawyer advances a hypothesis on a subject that is important to him and then spends subsequent paragraphs proving his thesis. It’s an interesting approach for students of the subject, but not one that lends itself well crafting a suspenseful story.

And that’s the problem with WONDER in a nutshell. It’s not a story, it’s a thought exercise masquerading as fiction and should be treated as such.

I’m not doubting Sawyer’s bonafides and extensive knowledge of his subject matter. But he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too. He spends too much time serving the rational, dispassionate scientist and not enough catering to the needs of the wild and unpredictable prose writer.

Character development, escalating tension and conflict are all essential elements of nearly any work of fiction and sadly they just aren’t present here.

I have a soft spot for Sawyer, I enjoy reading about the bits of Canadiana he sprinkles into his work and his books are always interesting and well thought out. I always take something away from them.

But just because THE WEALTHY BARBER taught me about the value of putting 10 per cent of my paycheque into an RRSP doesn’t mean it’s a good book, just an informative one.

Book Review: Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds

REDEMPTION ARK by Alastair Reynolds is one of those middle-of-a-trilogy books that has both good points and bad points. Is it worth reading? Absolutely. Does it flag and slow down the series? Yes, a bit. Basically it’s like this. The first half is riveting. Everything that happens with the (again) three separate plotlines is wholly interesting and page-turning. It’s the latter half (at least until the last 100 pages or so) that flags under the weight of Reynolds slower writing style. While in the first book I never felt the slow-down. In this second book (and this is upon a re-read of it too) it slows way down for about 250 pages or so. I’ll explain more later.

Note: Minor spoilers for the first book.

The first half of this book reads like REVELATION SPACE did. I had no problems with it and was really enjoying it. The three plotlines: 400-year old Conjoiner Nevil Clavain and his two Conjoiner “allies” Remontoire and Skade are part of a closed council that is aware of the threat that the universe-wide Inhibitor menace (starfaring machine intelligence that stamps out other starfaring cultures and wipes them out as a species). Via a link to future knowledge they have found a new and dangerous propulsion system and have created new ships to escape this menace if need be, en masse. That fact doesn't sit well with the honorable Clavain who fears for the rest of humanity, not just his Conjoiner brethren. Secondly, Storm Bird freighter pilot Antoinette Bax, after dangerously burying her father in a contested planet’s (Tangerine Dream) atmosphere, returns home with a broken ship to her friend and partner Xavier where she is harassed by the police on a daily basis. The third thread reunites us with some of our old friends on Resurgam from the first book. Former assassin Ana Khouri and Ultra pilot of the Nostalgia For Infinity Ilia Volyova. In the sixty years since the events of RS, Khouri has infiltrated the Resurgam government, and in cahoots with her friend Volyova has vilified the Ultra to draw the public eye away from their true purpose, one that will see the Nostalgia For Infinity used as an escape ship for the people of Resurgam. As the Inhibitors draw closer to human space and are seen building massive constructs whose purpose is unfathomable, the two allies must decide when to use the huge weapons stored in her ship against them.

Basically that whole first half which sees a number of other things happen, some monumental and some not so much is pace-perfect and never feels slow. The three plot threads start to twine together and various characters are united and others aren’t. The science (especially the new propulsion system) is as engrossing as it is entertaining. We, also at the midway point, meet a character from the satellite book about the melding plague (CHASM CITY) who will be responsible for events later on in the book and things ramp up!

…right before they slow right down.

Personally I think the whole reason the book slows right down is as a direct result of Reynold’s adherence to his own science. There is a ship chase in space while the two ships are using this new propulsion and the nature of it makes for a rather tepid chase. Everything becomes long-winded and even firing missiles or other weapons becomes a scientific equation about whether the ship being fired at will be in the area of space or not when the missile arrives. Messages are sent and threats are sent back and forth. Speeds are trumped up to ridiculous, and unsafe levels in an effort to reach the goal first, but it all really feels like music from another room. Like the muted after echo of action. Does that make sense? So the science of the chase (in a universe where travelling between the main planet and a frontier planet can take 20 years) even sped up feels like everyone is moving in slow motion. Clavain gets an ultimatum from Skade and has only…days…to get back to her. It therefore, never feels tense enough to me. So for more than 250 pages the book was a rather plodding action sequence.

After that though, things get back to the status quo as the people reach orbit of Resurgam and the plot threads come crashing together. Everyone meets each other and things start to pop off in proper Reynold’s fashion. The pace at this point has blissfully returned to normal and the story’s interest perks back up. Everyone here is seeking Redemption, and I think that is why the novel bears this title as nearly everyone has something in their past to atone for. The book finishes on a great note and successfully keeps me interested in the series.

My only other vague issue is I have an inkling that again the menace we have been told about (and have been repeatedly told is “evil”) the Inhibitors, may not be all bad and may in fact be doing things for good instead. I’m afraid they’ll play less of an overall role in the final book and I for one hope that whatever takes their place as the “big bad” is up to the task of how mysterious and darkly scary they were as an idea. I mean a whole race bent on only one thing, destroying any race intelligent enough to travel the stars….that’s scary on like a Dalek level. As an aside I feel I should mention, there really isn't anyone as unknown in their actions as Dan Sylveste was in the first book. He was so very grey and ultimately hindered humanity instead of helping them. To me he was absolutely FASCINATING in everything he did and said. It's one of Reynold's strengths as an author in making grey characters, as he does so in some of his short fiction too. In this book everyone is much more black and white, though there are a few exceptions I suppose. 

That said, Nevil Clavain is the epitome of badassery....so he makes up for it. Imagine a cool grandfather, who is a brilliant military general, rich, on uppers, at Christmas.

Anyways, my re-read made me realize my first thoughts on the book were accurate and still stand. While it is a worthy sequel, I think it falls slightly short of the first book due to the plodding area mid-book that I had to push through to get to the better ending. It’s still very worth your time though as Reynold’s work is quite extraordinary, and if you are a fan of the first book you will be a fan of this one.

As a last aside. Am I the only one who loves the fact that the carousel of inhabited space stations orbiting Yellowstone was, in the first book, called the Glitter Band…and in the second after the melding plague ravaged it is now called the Rust Belt? I loved that. Nice touch Reynolds.

The Doctor Loses A Stalwart Companion: RIP Elisabeth Sladen

She was the first companion of the Doctor’s that I remember. Sadly Elisabeth Sladen, who played the Doctor Who character of Sarah Jane Smith, died today due to complications from her ongoing fight with cancer. She has kept four different Doctor’s company over the years since the 70’s (she was companion to both the 3rd and 4th Doctor, and then later the 10th and 11th) and had her own spin-off show that was even more successful than her original show appearances.

…to me she’ll always be the first companion I ever watched, the one who loved a little tin dog (K-9), and stood up to the greatest threats in the universe. I'll miss her.

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen 1948 – 2011

“The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane; the world was lucky to have Elisabeth Sladen.” ~ Russell T. Davies (DW Showrunner series 1-4 and Sarah Jane Smith Adventures spinoff)

TV Review: GAME OF THRONES – Episode 1 (Winter is Coming)

If you’re like me, or the hundreds of other fans pulled in by the fantasy series A SONG OF FIRE AND ICE, then you were watching the premiere of its small screen adaption, GAME OF THRONES, last night. Based on the works of acclaimed writer George R.R. Martin the show deals with the labyrinthine and Machiavellian manoeuvrings of the fictional realm of the Seven Kingdoms.

Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King is dead. Without his presence Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), leader of the Seven Kingdoms, has no one he trusts to help him rule. In desperation he turns to Eddard Stark (Sean Bean), Warden of the North and an old comrade at arms. Baratheon, along with his Queen, Cersei Lannister (Lena Heady), and much of his court, travels to the northern reaches of his realm in order to persuade Stark to join him.

Initially reluctant to leave behind his home and his family; Eddard is finally persuaded to accept the position when he receives a letter from Arryn’s wife, Lysa, claiming that her husband’s death was the result of the Queen’s political machinations.

Last night’s episode was all about setting the table for Things to Come. After giving viewers a little taste of the mysterious threat that will come to define this series, events were mostly confined to introducing characters, establishing the complicated relationships that govern them and giving the audience a bit of back story to help provide them with a grounding in the politics of the Seven Kingdoms.

The problem I have with this series is that I lack the objectivity to do a proper review. As a devotee of the books I’ve been quietly salivating in a corner, for awhile now, waiting for this thing to make it to the screen. And the truth of it is no matter how well they’ve adapted the original source material its never quite going to be able to live up to the world I’ve constructed in my mind.

So yes, after the title sequence ran and the novelty of the thing began to wear off there was a little bit of a letdown with the final product, call it PHANTOM MENACE syndrome if you want. And even when it was apparent that the producers had managed to put a quality program on the screen I still couldn’t tell you if it was any good.

I mean, it seemed good. The acting for the most part was compelling, if a tad restrained. (It never hurts anything to put Sean Bean on screen for an hour and let him chew the scenery.) And Peter Dinklage and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau were excellent as the devious and lecherous brothers Lannister. But as the cold and calculating Cersei Lannister Lena Heady came off as flat and shrewish and rest of the extended cast did little to distinguish themselves from one another.

Visually the entire series is quite fetching. It’s sometimes hard to believe that HBO, a company that redefined itself in the modern age on the back of the grimy and gritty SOPRANOS, would branch out into genre work. But they’ve managed to create a rich and detailed setting that would stand up against any fantasy series out there.

The writing was strong as well. I can’t recall any off phrases and for the most part the dialogue seemed to be quite in tune with the feel of the books. But once again I found myself pulled out of the show, mentally comparing the adaptation to the original.

What had been kept in?
What had been taken out?
Had they moved some scenes around, and why?

I was more concerned with the architecture supporting the show then I was window dressing I was supposed to be enjoying. Whenever a new character popped up onscreen I’d run-through what I knew of their timeline and what was in store for them. After awhile it started to feel like watching a movie when someone has given away the twist ending. It was pretty clear that there wasn’t going to be any surprises for me here and that was disappointing.

It was too bad and entirely my fault.

While I was able to appreciate GAME OF THRONES on its technical and artistic merits it lacked the one element that would have really drawn me in as a viewer, not knowing what happens next.* Anyone I’ve spoken with, who has read the books first, really seemed to enjoy it.

But I’d be curious to get the POV of someone who hasn’t been exposed to the books to see what they think. Because let’s face it, GAME OF THRONES isn’t really meant for the hardcore devotee. Unless they do a total hatchet job we’re almost certain to tune in. HBO hopes to sell this thing to the casual viewer, because that’s the only place where they’ll be able to make up the necessary viewership numbers to keep the show on the air.

So what are their thoughts?
*AMC’s adaptation of THE WALKING DEAD was so fast and loose that I never knew what to expect, which was great because it allowed the whole show to stay fresh and new for me. On the other hand, I still wanted the producers to hit certain key touchstones of the comic. So I’m a hypocrite when I need to be.

Book Review: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

 

 

 This is kind of a late/cheater review for Alastair Reynolds’ REVELATION SPACE (since I actually read the book in April of LAST year), but I wanted to chime in with it now as I am currently re-reading the second book, REDEMPTION ARK, in preparation of reading the final book ABSOLUTION GAP (as I wanted to re-prime for said 3^rd book) for the first time.

Alastair Reynolds was one of those authors that got mentioned to me en-masse when I threw the question out to my fantasy/sci-fi peeps about wanting some space opera books. The response about him and his various books was almost unanimously positive.  Now, the main series of books (the RS trilogy & the standalone CHASM CITY) is not exactly easy to come by in Canada for some reason. His more recent works are everywhere, but of the original series…not so much as a whisper. Thankfully, my better half was in Florida at the time and found all 4 books at Barnes & Noble so she bought them for me. Bless her. I should also mention that I was advised to read (and did so) a collection of short fiction that takes place in the RS universe called GALACTIC NORTH that has a number of pieces that are probably the best primer for the world Reynolds has created as each story gives you a different facet of needed info. This was in fact a genius stroke as I think it totally enhances the reading experience of REVELATION SPACE…and especially of REDEMPTION ARK. If anyone feels like they wants to start this series I would advise reading at least the first six stories in it (not the last two as they pertain to the final book) just to get familiarized. Plus they are cracker stories (THE GREAT WALL OF MARS being sheer genius IMHO)!

In the first book we are introduced to a universe where earth has long since frozen over and been mostly abandoned. Humanity has taken to other worlds, and then split into various factions. The Conjoiners (nano-tech enhanced/hive mind individuals also called Spiders), the Demarchists (enhanced humans with a neural link that is constantly polling them for answers to questions of demarchist society, also called Zombies), Ultras (transhumans whose bodies can be heavily adapted with mechanical appendages and enhancements for the rigors of space travel) and of course regular humans.

Reynolds likes to have various plot threads that are not related twine together deeper into the book. For me this is always a great way of telling a story simply because you can have completely disparate narratives in which the characters have a chance to be their own. This totally adds to their depth later on and makes for a fuller book. Of the three plotlines in RS, one concerns archeologist Dan Sylveste who is on the planet Resurgam in the far reaches of space uncovering clues about the demise of a 900,000-year-old civilization of people named the Amaratin. They were suddenly and swiftly wiped from existence and left only artifacts as to their societies' demise. The second concerns the light-hugger ship Nostalgia For Infinity and its once-huge but now-small crew of Ultras who have been frozen for a trip to Yellowstone (the main world in the series). They search for the same Dan Sylveste to request his help with their Captain who has been stricken with the Melding Plague (a deadly virus that attacks human cells and machine nanotechnology in equal measure). In the third plot-thread assassin Ana Khouri is hired by a mysterious employer to infiltrate the Nostalgia For Infinity’s crew and ultimately to kill Sylveste at any cost. These three narratives all are all very well executed and the book, though complex, has a rocket pace I can’t even fathom. It should feel like a slower ride, but it just doesn’t and once it grabs you it never stops. Sylveste’s plot interested me most as to the investigation of the disappearance of the Amarantin, but funnily enough both the other plots are just as interesting, partially for insight into a few Reynolds-universe-spanning ideas (Ultras, Melding Plague, near-light travel) and partially because they are populated by such interesting characters. Reynolds background in astrophysics is perfectly clear and present here (even the near-light travel takes years, it takes twenty years for Sylveste to travel from Yellowstone to Resurgam) and that lends the whole volume an air of believability and respectability. Reynold’s science isn’t always perfect, but it is so close that you never have to be pulled out of the story thinking something he’s invented couldn’t exist. It's also beautiful. I have no other way to say it. When he describes even a simple robotic police proxy with scissor-like appendages, it's gorgeously realized prose that makes it easy to imagine.

One thing is definitely for sure, when the narrative streams do finally merge in the second half of the book, and the shit collectively hits the fan...you won’t be able to stop reading until you find out what happens. Then, of course, the incredible ending will come along and melt your brain out of your head. Seriously. That's not an exaggeration. This book is made of win.

I flat out LOVE Reynold’s work now and as I said above, I am re-reading the second book which I am enjoying even more this time.

In REVELATION SPACE Alastair Reynolds has not only created a completely plausible future, but has added the right dashes of humanity, politics, and character-driven depth that make for a book that I would nearly deem perfect. It is a ride that I have not forgotten in the year since I read it, and one that I am sure to re-visit in the future. This is Space Opera as it is meat to be done, with a deft hand, a wry wit and plenty of science, intrigue, mysteries and action.

I was SO blown away by it that any time that I am asked my favourite sci-fi books/author now, Alastair Reynolds is the very first name out of my mouth.

I will return with a review of my re-read of book two in a number of days, so keep an eye peeled for that.

 

Music: Amanda Palmer - Map of Tasmania Remix Project

Hi everyone,

What Scott said.

I'm just popping on to make you are all aware that over on her bandcamp page Amanda Palmer has just released two albums of remixes of Map of Tasmania f rom her AMANDA PALMER GOES DOWN UNDER disc.

(I guess putting out four albums in 12 months wasn't enough for AFP.)

The remixes are technically free, but you're encouraged to donate an amount you feel would be appropriate. Why not give them a listen and tell me what you think.

Blog-Silence / Vacation

Hey folks!

Starting tomorrow I will not be near many computers as I am headed south into the Caribbean for some R & R with my girlfriend, my kindle and some drinks. I'll be gone for a week, and Chris is finishing up a final paper for school this week so his presence will be less as well.

What does this mean? Well it means a few things. It means that I will be laying on a lounge on the beach in the sun, reading. It means that Chris will be buckling down to finish up his school days and hopefully start to enjoy the spring. It also means (and this is the best bit) that upon my return next week I will hopefully have more than a few book reviews to lay down here for all you fine peoples!

We have some exciting things planned over the next little while. On the 17th when I return, Chris and I will be watching, twittering and blogging about the first episode of HBO's GAME OF THRONES (and that will stay a Sunday night event for the whole season of the show), then the following weekend will be the premiere of the two-part opening episode of Series 6 of DOCTOR WHO, and that will start my yearly, and therefore weekly reviews of my favourite show.

So stay tuned for all that, and in the meantime have yourselves a blast too!

First Reads: The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) - Stephen King

It's that time again. With me caught up to the most recent WHEEL OF TIME book, the "First Reads" category here at Iceberg Ink is once again vacant. If you don't know this is the category here where I review books in series that have been written and read by many long ago and I'm only getting to them now. So, without further adieu I give you the new "First Reads" series of THE DARK TOWER, and here we have the first book THE GUNSLINGER. Note: I will be (after I finish the book series) be reading the graphic Novel prequels as well. So let's get started.

I’ll freely admit to two things here:

1)   I had tried two other times to read the first Dark Tower book. Once as a youth and it was kind of over my head, and then again as an adult when Chris told me to read it and I faltered due to dialogue early on turning me off.

2)   The thing that drew me back to try again (other than the forthcoming Ron Howard/Brian Grazer produced film trilogy possibly starring Javier Bardem in the lead) is the incredible art of the prequel Graphic Novels by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove.

So it was that I tried again. And this time I succeeded and actually really quite enjoyed the story. I read the forward/author’s note that he wrote years later about why he wrote it and the mindset he had when he did.

I should also offer up that I don’t like Stephen King’s novels. His horror/thriller ones that is. I’ve read a fair number of them and I always found I didn’t like his style on those books. I have openly made fun of Chris for his slavish, fanboy devotion to King’s pantheon of books. When we co-habitated as roommates, the bookshelves that dominated our main common living space had more than one full shelf of slightly ragged hardcover copies.

This time I realized that THE GUNSLINGER begins a different type of novel from King showcasing a slightly different style of writing and that difference is what made this book so readable. I’ll be honest, I read this one in about two sittings and had no trouble getting through it. I found the characters, especially that of main Gunslinger Roland, to be written with a decent flair and skill, especially for how young King was when he wrote it. The Man in Black comes across as a bad taste in your mouth…and he’s meant to. Jake comes across well, though I will admit to being endlessly curious how he ended up in this world from what I can only surmise is OUR world. The back story that Roland relates at intervals throughout the book about his childhood and training to be a Gunslinger is both interesting and clever. I would also say that secondary characters like trainer Cort, Alain, and Cuthbert ect. and even David the falcon are well done for the small screen time they have. On top of that I am ENDLESSLY curious about those people, not to mention who else inhabits the current world that Roland does, since this book is consumed by his quest to catch the Man in Black. I can see the potential here for a very interesting series and I look forward to continuing it. I can’t say I was bored at any point in this book. It is tightly written without any of the extraneous stuff that might slow it down. I love the whole lone gunslinger wandering samurai with pistols thing. Just solid imagery.

My complaints only come two-fold. I found that at times things got a tad too philosophical and internal, but this was not overbearing so I wasn’t too upset by it. The ending comes off a bit too existential for my tastes, BUT there are nuggets of really interesting ideas nestled within that overly verbose section and so I come away with a happy disposition.

So, as it happens, I actually enjoyed THE GUNSLINGER a lot, and fully plan to move onto the next book in the series and see where things go. This is quite unique I realize, as King has written a long fantasy series that intermingles with our world somehow and also stars a western as its setting. I’m actually impressed by that alone. Full marks to a writer I used to swear I didn’t like. Looks like I’ll have to modify that statement now.

Book Review: Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

It’s quite hard to review a book like Patrick Rothfuss’ WISE MAN’S FEAR, and quite frankly I was kind of not looking forward to it. Not because I didn’t enjoy the book, far from it, but I didn’t have the foggiest clue where to start with such a monstrously sized behemoth of a book. A few reviewers did it in pieces which seems like the smartest route, but the ones who did that split it up as they were reading it, and I’ve been finished for days.

I also don't want to give too much away of the story so I won't talk too much about specific plot details, and will try to stick to the broader strokes.

So let’s start with the obvious then. Did I or didn’t I enjoy the book? Of course I enjoyed it! It was a hell of a read and is (if possible) an even more satisfying read than its predecessor THE NAME OF THE WIND. Here we continue the story of the Kingkiller, Kvothe: concerning his youth growing up studying magic at the University, playing music at the Eolian, and being stupid about love.

That is actually where we start properly. Kvothe is again ready for another round of admissions (and the need for another loan for tuition) to the University, his friends are trying to keep him out of trouble, and his nemesis Ambrose is causing him no end of grief again. Denna is still this tantalizing relationship that is a thin whisper that will blow away and disappear if Kvothe does the wrong thing. He still has no patron and therefore has very little money to pay for tuition amongst other things. Thus does he find himself again working in the Fishery (Artificery) making sympathy lamps for chump change. Does this sound familiar? It should. This is pretty much what happened in the first half of the THE NAME OF THE WIND. Well, the same sorts of things are going on with Kvothe in this book. Some people got a bit tired of this, same old, same old routine, but I didn’t really. I like the University setting and I don’t quite mind the retread ground as in those pages are some serious nuggets of good info. Besides which, Rothfuss' prose is so gorgeous that you kind of forget all that anyways and just compulsively turn the page.

The University stuff stops around the page 300-ish mark when Kvothe takes some time off from school and travels to help a major nobleman in Vintas. This is the portion of the story that I referred to as Final Fantasy-style leveling up. Nearly the entire rest of the book is a hundred page sequence, followed by a different hundred page sequence, followed by…you get the idea…that all concerns upping Kvothe’s skills in various disciplines and aspects of grown up life.  This is not really a complaint so much as I could kind of see-thru what was going on, but I wasn't upset about that. Kvothe will need certain skills to become the infamous man that he will grow up to be (the same man who is hiding as a disguised innkeeper in a backwater town, telling this story) and to acquire those skills requires certain events that will bequeath them to him. These leveling up portions were just as good as the beginning and were a nice change of pace nevertheless. The only section that dragged for me was the faerie Felurian 100-page sequence as it just seems to go on forever and doesn’t really need to. This is however a portion of the book where Kvothe meets a varied number of interesting characters, some of which have yet to play their larger parts in Kvothe's tale. I am still unsure of their loyalties but there is some very big hint dropping on the authors' part as to who certain people MAY be….but we’ll have to wait for the 3^rd book to find out. There are some nice little twisty bits throughout and at the end to keep us on waiting on baited breath for the final volume.

All in all, Rothfuss’ long-time-coming second Kingkiller Chronicle is everything I could have desired it would be. Sumptuously written, and deftly executed it is the type of book that will keep you company into the wee hours, and hold you for ransom, kidnapped, eyes glued to the page. It is an enthralling continuation of a very clever tale, one which may not have many red herrings, but instead has umpteen twists and turns that you may not be expecting.

Denna continues to be the most annoying character in a fantasy novel, and Kvothe’s idiocy regarding her is either the most well written example of young Kvothe’s poor social skills, or she is just meant to be annoying and he meant to be a daft, love-blind fool. Either way it makes for a riveting story.

The book clocks in just shy of 1000 pages, but none of that really ever felt too long and boring. Like I said above the Felurian stuff is overlong and shows it’s wear after about 30 pages, but aside from that part I was never really sighing thinking I’d like him to get on with things…and that is simply due to his skill with writing craft. This is just a very well written book and it shows.

If you liked THE NAME OF THE WIND, I am positive you will enjoy WISE MAN’S FEAR even more, and quite certainly it will up your desire for the 3^rd book.