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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic in Books
Mar 15, 2018 (Updated Mar 15, 2018)
A thoughtful, well-argued factual account of the US presidency
I actually enjoyed this rather Republican perspective of the Trump administration, especially as it seems to be less sensationalist than Michael Wolff's controversial book, @Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.
Former George W. Bush speechwriter, David Frum, writes about the biggest threat to democracy in a factual, scholarly way without resorting to tabloid remarks. Frum carefully builds his argument using well-recognised sources from across the political, historical and media spectrum.
While he is clearly not a fan of the President, his critique mostly focusses on how Trump distorts and uses his power unconstitutionally, attempting to subvert institutions for his own benefit. But he also criticises those around him who have helped him stay in power such as Paul Ryan and Michael Flynn. What is worrying is the increase of military personnel and financiers who surround him, similar to those of many authoritarian nations, who exacerbate irrational decision-making.
He speaks about his voter base which also includes swathes of young white men, who are disillusioned and care less about religion and sexism - hence why Hillary Clinton was unable to change their minds. It is a well-argued, eye-opening book that does not resort to character bashing.
Former George W. Bush speechwriter, David Frum, writes about the biggest threat to democracy in a factual, scholarly way without resorting to tabloid remarks. Frum carefully builds his argument using well-recognised sources from across the political, historical and media spectrum.
While he is clearly not a fan of the President, his critique mostly focusses on how Trump distorts and uses his power unconstitutionally, attempting to subvert institutions for his own benefit. But he also criticises those around him who have helped him stay in power such as Paul Ryan and Michael Flynn. What is worrying is the increase of military personnel and financiers who surround him, similar to those of many authoritarian nations, who exacerbate irrational decision-making.
He speaks about his voter base which also includes swathes of young white men, who are disillusioned and care less about religion and sexism - hence why Hillary Clinton was unable to change their minds. It is a well-argued, eye-opening book that does not resort to character bashing.
Bong Mines Entertainment (15 KP) rated Cover Me - Single by Camille Miller in Music
Jun 17, 2019
Camille Miller is a German-born singer-songwriter who was raised on military bases all over Canada. Not too long ago, she released a cool indie-alternative tune, entitled, “Cover Me”.
“Stand before me, let me your soul. Let me feel the warmth of your touch. Hearts unguarded, bodies perfect in their flaws. I can’t do this on my own. Modern life through the telephone staring in and fading out. We’re all covered in lonely, we’re all covered in doubt.” – lyrics
‘Cover Me’ contains a relatable narrative, pleasing vocals, and lush instrumentation flavored with indie-pop and alternative elements. Also, the track possesses a tasty guitar solo.
“Thinking about how technology and social media sometimes make us doubt ourselves. How something that can brilliantly bring us together, can also keep us separated in ways we have never experienced before. How the need and want of human interaction is so important and deeply needed.” – Camille Miller
Camille Miller was brought up on a hearty diet of Motown, Carly Simon, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones.
With the sound of these greats of yesteryear oozing through her veins, she continues her global trend of turning listeners into lifelong fans.
https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/camille-miller-cover-me/
“Stand before me, let me your soul. Let me feel the warmth of your touch. Hearts unguarded, bodies perfect in their flaws. I can’t do this on my own. Modern life through the telephone staring in and fading out. We’re all covered in lonely, we’re all covered in doubt.” – lyrics
‘Cover Me’ contains a relatable narrative, pleasing vocals, and lush instrumentation flavored with indie-pop and alternative elements. Also, the track possesses a tasty guitar solo.
“Thinking about how technology and social media sometimes make us doubt ourselves. How something that can brilliantly bring us together, can also keep us separated in ways we have never experienced before. How the need and want of human interaction is so important and deeply needed.” – Camille Miller
Camille Miller was brought up on a hearty diet of Motown, Carly Simon, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and the Rolling Stones.
With the sound of these greats of yesteryear oozing through her veins, she continues her global trend of turning listeners into lifelong fans.
https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/camille-miller-cover-me/
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Child's Play 3 (1991) in Movies
Oct 22, 2019 (Updated Nov 8, 2019)
The third outing for Chucky unfortunately offers nothing new.
It's simply a less fun re tread of the first two.
The setting for Child's Play 3 mainly takes place at a military academy for young people, with typical character cliches thrown in - the nerdy coward type who will clearly redeem himself by the end of the movie, the harsh drill sergeant, the jock type bullies, the badass female, and of course a whole host of people who (for the third time!) don't believe a now teenage Andy Barcley, that there's a killer doll on the loose.
It's all pretty tiresome, and tied together by a poor script.
Chucky himself is the same old, shooting off sweary one liners and being a general prick to everyone he comes across (not necessarily a bad thing).
The finale is pretty lackluster, and not a patch on the seemingly never ending abuse parade against Chucky from Child's Play 2, but it does boast some nice animatronic work and some nasty practical effects.
Child's Play 3 is ultimately a thoroughly underwhelming sequel, sat in a weird purgatory between the more horror themed elements of the first movie, and the schlockier elements of the later films.
It's simply a less fun re tread of the first two.
The setting for Child's Play 3 mainly takes place at a military academy for young people, with typical character cliches thrown in - the nerdy coward type who will clearly redeem himself by the end of the movie, the harsh drill sergeant, the jock type bullies, the badass female, and of course a whole host of people who (for the third time!) don't believe a now teenage Andy Barcley, that there's a killer doll on the loose.
It's all pretty tiresome, and tied together by a poor script.
Chucky himself is the same old, shooting off sweary one liners and being a general prick to everyone he comes across (not necessarily a bad thing).
The finale is pretty lackluster, and not a patch on the seemingly never ending abuse parade against Chucky from Child's Play 2, but it does boast some nice animatronic work and some nasty practical effects.
Child's Play 3 is ultimately a thoroughly underwhelming sequel, sat in a weird purgatory between the more horror themed elements of the first movie, and the schlockier elements of the later films.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated A Few Good Men (1992) in Movies
Apr 7, 2020
You Can't Handle The Truth
I love this movie, its such a phenomenal movie, a epic dramaic movie. Lies, truth, justice and liberty. You have a excellent cast like- Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollack and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Also you have classic lines like.. "I am a lawyer and an officer in the United States Marine Corps...and you're under arrest, you son of a bitch.", "What do you wanna talk about now? My favorite color?", "Did you order the code red?", "I want the truth!" and of course "You Can't Handle The Truth".
The plot: Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a military lawyer defending two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Although Kaffee is known for seeking plea bargains, a fellow lawyer, Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), convinces him that the accused marines were most likely carrying out an order from a commanding officer. Kaffee takes a risk by calling Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) to the stand in an effort to uncover the conspiracy.
Such a classic excellent movie, to start the month of "Tom Cruise".
Also you have classic lines like.. "I am a lawyer and an officer in the United States Marine Corps...and you're under arrest, you son of a bitch.", "What do you wanna talk about now? My favorite color?", "Did you order the code red?", "I want the truth!" and of course "You Can't Handle The Truth".
The plot: Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a military lawyer defending two U.S. Marines charged with killing a fellow Marine at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Although Kaffee is known for seeking plea bargains, a fellow lawyer, Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore), convinces him that the accused marines were most likely carrying out an order from a commanding officer. Kaffee takes a risk by calling Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) to the stand in an effort to uncover the conspiracy.
Such a classic excellent movie, to start the month of "Tom Cruise".
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (2014) in Movies
Apr 21, 2020 (Updated Apr 21, 2020)
Bill Paxton (1 more)
The Time Loop
The Never-Ending Cycle
Edge of Tomorrow- holy shit i love this movie. I remember seeing this movie back when it came out back in 2014 and back then i loved it. You take groundhogs day and flipping it 10 fold. The never ending cycle of repeating the same day over and over again, its fantasic and puts a new spin every time tom cruise charcter dies. Plus its a sci-fi movie which is a plus, with aliens. Hmm "War of the Worlds" and "Oblivion". Tom cruise likes to do sci-fi movie that has aliens in them.
The plot: When Earth falls under attack from invincible aliens, no military unit in the world is able to beat them. Maj. William Cage (Tom Cruise), an officer who has never seen combat, is assigned to a suicide mission. Killed within moments, Cage finds himself thrown into a time loop, in which he relives the same brutal fight -- and his death -- over and over again. However, Cage's fighting skills improve with each encore, bringing him and a comrade (Emily Blunt) ever closer to defeating the aliens.
The time loop is excellent, the plot is fanatasic, the sci-fi is phenonmemal and overall a epic movie.
The plot: When Earth falls under attack from invincible aliens, no military unit in the world is able to beat them. Maj. William Cage (Tom Cruise), an officer who has never seen combat, is assigned to a suicide mission. Killed within moments, Cage finds himself thrown into a time loop, in which he relives the same brutal fight -- and his death -- over and over again. However, Cage's fighting skills improve with each encore, bringing him and a comrade (Emily Blunt) ever closer to defeating the aliens.
The time loop is excellent, the plot is fanatasic, the sci-fi is phenonmemal and overall a epic movie.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Planet Terror (2007) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Sep 20, 2020)
*Examining mutilated corpse*
"𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰-𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳"
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯?"
"𝘕𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
A nasty, gushing open wound of a movie - real gnarly dirtbag exploitation on display and easily one of the dopest film heroines ever put on screen. The American military as a grotesque, deformed monster of its former self - shambling around causing havoc in its wake, using its past achievements to justify its new warped existence. Also cool lady has machine gun for leg. Plants its sickness firmly into the ground before the zombies even start showing up, and then we get those reliably exemplary Nicotero effects - and they sure aren't afraid to use them. Dear God almighty is there a *lot* of blood, pus, rotting flesh, and guts in this and it all looks top-notch. Even by this genre's standards this leans hard into depraved splatfest mode. The last thirty minutes are seriously some of the best that cinema has ever created - and every Tarantino scene is the sort of masterclass revolting slime that makes you feel physically sick. The type of movie Rodriguez was born to direct - orgasmically evocative of the 𝘐 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 era of gorecore films while also totally remaining its own thing with a formidable vigor and sense of self. Prestige filth.
"𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰-𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳"
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯?"
"𝘕𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
A nasty, gushing open wound of a movie - real gnarly dirtbag exploitation on display and easily one of the dopest film heroines ever put on screen. The American military as a grotesque, deformed monster of its former self - shambling around causing havoc in its wake, using its past achievements to justify its new warped existence. Also cool lady has machine gun for leg. Plants its sickness firmly into the ground before the zombies even start showing up, and then we get those reliably exemplary Nicotero effects - and they sure aren't afraid to use them. Dear God almighty is there a *lot* of blood, pus, rotting flesh, and guts in this and it all looks top-notch. Even by this genre's standards this leans hard into depraved splatfest mode. The last thirty minutes are seriously some of the best that cinema has ever created - and every Tarantino scene is the sort of masterclass revolting slime that makes you feel physically sick. The type of movie Rodriguez was born to direct - orgasmically evocative of the 𝘐 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 era of gorecore films while also totally remaining its own thing with a formidable vigor and sense of self. Prestige filth.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Dec 9, 2022
Darren (1599 KP) rated Iron Man 2 (2010) in Movies
Oct 24, 2019
Characters – Tony Stark revealed his identity at the end of the last movie, he has become even more famous as the man that ended conflict in the world, the government want control over the suit and worry that other parts of the world could develop their own version of the suit. He must deal with his own mortality when the one thing keeping him alive, is making him sick. He will also need to fight for his father’s mistakes, pushing his closest friends away. Pepper Potts has been given a promotion by Tony, to CEO, she already runs his affairs, she is now running his company, while trying to control him during his self-destruction. Rhodey is still in his role in the military, he is still challenging Tony, but gets to use his own suit the correct way, for guiding the military. Natasha goes undercover in Stark’s company, she is a member of SHIELD where she uses her skills in combat to keep Tony out of trouble. Justin Hammer is a rival inventor still trying to get ahead of Tony in the weapons business, he has been working on his own Iron Man suit, without much success, he hires Ivan to build him a suit. Ivan Vanko has built his own weaponised suit, he is the son of a rival of Tony’ father, which sees him want to take revenge on Tony for his father’s action, becoming whiplash, the one man that has created a suit that could rival Iron Man.
Performances – Robert Downey Jr is still great to watch, he keeps the charisma required for his role, while bringing an emotional factor which is needed for where his character goes in this film. Gwyneth Paltrow does have a bigger role here and brings us a much stronger performance with her character. Don Cheadle is an improvement on Terrence Howard, bringing Rhodey to life more. Scarlett Johansson has the perfect look for this character which is only first jumping into the franchise. Sam Rockwell as another inventor arms dealer who is filled with the swagger required. Mickey Rourke as the villain has good motives he does everything he can even if he character does grumble a lot.
Story – The story follows up the beginning of Iron Man dealing with the idea that the military would want control of the equipment and the rest of the world will be playing catch up, with their own versions of the Iron Man suit. This is a strong world building exercise to the Iron Man universe, we get to see how SHIELD are operating in the shadows watching over the potential threats. We have a villain that is competition and another one that is out for personal revenge. We up the stakes in this one, Tony does have to deal with his own problems by needing to improve the suit and we get to set up the position of who is one the good side with teases of the eventual Avengers team up.
Action/Sci-Fi – The action in this film relies on a couple of big scenes, we have the racing introduction, the mid-life crisis sequence and the showdown, each has their own way to make an impact. The sci-fi side of the film continues to show the technology advances that Tony is dealing with.
Settings – The film uses the settings more for the action with one of the most iconic action sequences in the franchise, we continue to see Tony’s lab which tends to get destroyed a lot too.
Special Effects – The special effects in the film make each fight, drone or Iron Man suit look realistic through the film which is what needed for the film.
Scene of the Movie – Monte Carlo entrance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There is a small pacing issue.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun sequel that continues to build the universe we know now, Tony still needs to learn about his place and how to handle the suit which is important and shows the past could come back to haunt you.
Overall: Fun sequel.
Performances – Robert Downey Jr is still great to watch, he keeps the charisma required for his role, while bringing an emotional factor which is needed for where his character goes in this film. Gwyneth Paltrow does have a bigger role here and brings us a much stronger performance with her character. Don Cheadle is an improvement on Terrence Howard, bringing Rhodey to life more. Scarlett Johansson has the perfect look for this character which is only first jumping into the franchise. Sam Rockwell as another inventor arms dealer who is filled with the swagger required. Mickey Rourke as the villain has good motives he does everything he can even if he character does grumble a lot.
Story – The story follows up the beginning of Iron Man dealing with the idea that the military would want control of the equipment and the rest of the world will be playing catch up, with their own versions of the Iron Man suit. This is a strong world building exercise to the Iron Man universe, we get to see how SHIELD are operating in the shadows watching over the potential threats. We have a villain that is competition and another one that is out for personal revenge. We up the stakes in this one, Tony does have to deal with his own problems by needing to improve the suit and we get to set up the position of who is one the good side with teases of the eventual Avengers team up.
Action/Sci-Fi – The action in this film relies on a couple of big scenes, we have the racing introduction, the mid-life crisis sequence and the showdown, each has their own way to make an impact. The sci-fi side of the film continues to show the technology advances that Tony is dealing with.
Settings – The film uses the settings more for the action with one of the most iconic action sequences in the franchise, we continue to see Tony’s lab which tends to get destroyed a lot too.
Special Effects – The special effects in the film make each fight, drone or Iron Man suit look realistic through the film which is what needed for the film.
Scene of the Movie – Monte Carlo entrance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There is a small pacing issue.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun sequel that continues to build the universe we know now, Tony still needs to learn about his place and how to handle the suit which is important and shows the past could come back to haunt you.
Overall: Fun sequel.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Military Wives (2020) in Movies
Feb 17, 2020
Even having just seen the trailer I knew I would cry at this, it's classic tear-fodder.
On-base life can be difficult for the wives and partners of soldiers serving abroad. Lisa has inherited the job of organising the wives while everyone is deployed but it's not an activity she's keen on, she'd rather just make it through to the other side and have her husband back. Luckily [though it seems anything but] for her Kate wants to take on a role in those duties, she's a veteran wide and has a very proper way of looking at how they should conduct themselves. The two women take an instant dislike for the other's attitude making life stressful in the social circle.
This doesn't change once they pick an activity the group are all interested in and they struggle to find a rhythm together. Can the pair separate their differences for the wellbeing of the group and each other?
Military Wives is something that we seem to be able to churn out consistently over here. You want an emotionally uplifting (while devastating) drama? The Brits have got you covered. I cried over Wild Rose, Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Juliet, Naked, all have that similar quality to them that makes them a surprisingly comforting watch.
At the centre we focus on Kate and Lisa, both women are looking to forget and just get through it all for different reasons. The two are chalk and cheese and Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan thrive in their roles against one another. You can feel the agony they both suffer with and yet it's quite difficult to sympathise with either when for most of the film they are quite dislikable.
Even when we see Lisa interact with the other wives she's still grumpy and brash, it fits with what the character is going through on the inside but challenging to like. The same goes for Kate, her position afforded to her by her husband's position and her take charge attitude reminds me of that one person who always wants it their way, and that feeling instantly overrides everything else that's happening.
That's not to say that you don't feel for them, you definitely do towards the end, but getting there is a struggle.
We have a lot of peripheral characters who come in for both drama and comedy, they're all handled nicely for the most part and the nature of the story means that they can come and go quite easily without many issues. The emotion from Amy James-Kelly as Sarah was great but there's a point where it really feels like a scene is cut n the middle as the tone changes, Laura Checkley as Maz was very funny and Gaby French as Jess comes in with humour and impact in her choir lead. There was just one notable oddity and that was the character of Dawn played by Roxy Faridany. The shy and quiet member of the choir gets brought up a couple of times and yet doesn't feature in any of the foreground scenes properly. This again felt like we were missing scenes where she featured more. Bringing in the soldier contingent we have Jason Flemyng (I love him, he needs to be in more things) who is the base commander (I'm not up on my ranks so I apologise if I got it wrong) and though it's not a large role it's a funny one. The look on his face in the scene under the bridge was a picture. He fits into the cast nicely and it was a good balance of screen time within the story.
Military Wives is a story of personal struggle and friendship at its core, and as expected I spent a significant amount of time with tears streaming down my face. It handles the grieving and coping struggles in a respectful way and the interactions between characters felt very real. The uncertainty, the hatred, the feat and horror, it was all there in the actors' performances. The film takes a long time to get to what you might say is the pay off, but the journey is well thought out and it comes together for a charming and emotional watch.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/02/military-wives-movie-review.html
On-base life can be difficult for the wives and partners of soldiers serving abroad. Lisa has inherited the job of organising the wives while everyone is deployed but it's not an activity she's keen on, she'd rather just make it through to the other side and have her husband back. Luckily [though it seems anything but] for her Kate wants to take on a role in those duties, she's a veteran wide and has a very proper way of looking at how they should conduct themselves. The two women take an instant dislike for the other's attitude making life stressful in the social circle.
This doesn't change once they pick an activity the group are all interested in and they struggle to find a rhythm together. Can the pair separate their differences for the wellbeing of the group and each other?
Military Wives is something that we seem to be able to churn out consistently over here. You want an emotionally uplifting (while devastating) drama? The Brits have got you covered. I cried over Wild Rose, Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Juliet, Naked, all have that similar quality to them that makes them a surprisingly comforting watch.
At the centre we focus on Kate and Lisa, both women are looking to forget and just get through it all for different reasons. The two are chalk and cheese and Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan thrive in their roles against one another. You can feel the agony they both suffer with and yet it's quite difficult to sympathise with either when for most of the film they are quite dislikable.
Even when we see Lisa interact with the other wives she's still grumpy and brash, it fits with what the character is going through on the inside but challenging to like. The same goes for Kate, her position afforded to her by her husband's position and her take charge attitude reminds me of that one person who always wants it their way, and that feeling instantly overrides everything else that's happening.
That's not to say that you don't feel for them, you definitely do towards the end, but getting there is a struggle.
We have a lot of peripheral characters who come in for both drama and comedy, they're all handled nicely for the most part and the nature of the story means that they can come and go quite easily without many issues. The emotion from Amy James-Kelly as Sarah was great but there's a point where it really feels like a scene is cut n the middle as the tone changes, Laura Checkley as Maz was very funny and Gaby French as Jess comes in with humour and impact in her choir lead. There was just one notable oddity and that was the character of Dawn played by Roxy Faridany. The shy and quiet member of the choir gets brought up a couple of times and yet doesn't feature in any of the foreground scenes properly. This again felt like we were missing scenes where she featured more. Bringing in the soldier contingent we have Jason Flemyng (I love him, he needs to be in more things) who is the base commander (I'm not up on my ranks so I apologise if I got it wrong) and though it's not a large role it's a funny one. The look on his face in the scene under the bridge was a picture. He fits into the cast nicely and it was a good balance of screen time within the story.
Military Wives is a story of personal struggle and friendship at its core, and as expected I spent a significant amount of time with tears streaming down my face. It handles the grieving and coping struggles in a respectful way and the interactions between characters felt very real. The uncertainty, the hatred, the feat and horror, it was all there in the actors' performances. The film takes a long time to get to what you might say is the pay off, but the journey is well thought out and it comes together for a charming and emotional watch.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/02/military-wives-movie-review.html
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Autonomous: A Novel in Books
Dec 22, 2018
Autonomous is an interesting story that poses a lot of moral questions. It doesn't really take sides; both the pharmaceutical pirate and the agents tracking her down are painted in sympathetic ways, as if we're meant to like them all. We see why Jack is a pharmaceutical pirate; medicine is only available to those rich enough to pay for it, so the poor stay poor and sick and short-lived. She wants to change that. She reverse-engineers drugs, manufactures them, and distributes them to the needy through her associates.
Meanwhile, Eliasz is a conflicted military agent who is sexually attracted to robots. Or at least to his partner, Paladin, though a flashback shows what might have been the start of his attraction to robots. Paladin is probably the single most interesting character in the entire book, as she muses on the nature of being indentured, and searches through her memories and the internet for information about her situation.
The book does have LGBT content - Jack is bisexual, and Eliasz is - robosexual? Is that a thing? Paladin could be called nonbinary or trans; she repeatedly mentions that gender isn't a thing to robots, but because she's a military robot, most people call her a he at the beginning of the book. She learns the brain inside her is female, and to make Eliasz more comfortable with his attraction, she decides to use female pronouns. Eliasz does use the F word to refer to himself being attracted to the robot at the beginning, when they were using male pronouns. This puzzles Paladin for a while, causing her to search the term and figure out what Eliasz meant by its use.
There's a lot of complex world-building in this book that is barely brushed past. From the corporations who own patents covering everything, to the system of indenture that covers humans as well as robots, to the bio-domes that cover cities (but it's livable outside the biodomes, so why are they needed?), to the new federations that cover continents that used to be divided into several countries - there's a LOT going on. And there's not just robots, but also some pretty advanced cybernetics implanted in humans as well as an everpresent network of data that can be tapped into with implants that everyone has.
Ultimately, for as complex as the world is, and cohesive as the plot is, I'm left wondering who, if anyone, was in the right in this story. I'm not sure if we're supposed to be happy with the ending or not. I've seen other reviews saying Neuromancer was a way better book in a similar vein, and I actually have copy of that waiting to be read. So we'll see.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Meanwhile, Eliasz is a conflicted military agent who is sexually attracted to robots. Or at least to his partner, Paladin, though a flashback shows what might have been the start of his attraction to robots. Paladin is probably the single most interesting character in the entire book, as she muses on the nature of being indentured, and searches through her memories and the internet for information about her situation.
The book does have LGBT content - Jack is bisexual, and Eliasz is - robosexual? Is that a thing? Paladin could be called nonbinary or trans; she repeatedly mentions that gender isn't a thing to robots, but because she's a military robot, most people call her a he at the beginning of the book. She learns the brain inside her is female, and to make Eliasz more comfortable with his attraction, she decides to use female pronouns. Eliasz does use the F word to refer to himself being attracted to the robot at the beginning, when they were using male pronouns. This puzzles Paladin for a while, causing her to search the term and figure out what Eliasz meant by its use.
There's a lot of complex world-building in this book that is barely brushed past. From the corporations who own patents covering everything, to the system of indenture that covers humans as well as robots, to the bio-domes that cover cities (but it's livable outside the biodomes, so why are they needed?), to the new federations that cover continents that used to be divided into several countries - there's a LOT going on. And there's not just robots, but also some pretty advanced cybernetics implanted in humans as well as an everpresent network of data that can be tapped into with implants that everyone has.
Ultimately, for as complex as the world is, and cohesive as the plot is, I'm left wondering who, if anyone, was in the right in this story. I'm not sure if we're supposed to be happy with the ending or not. I've seen other reviews saying Neuromancer was a way better book in a similar vein, and I actually have copy of that waiting to be read. So we'll see.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com