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David McK (3649 KP) rated Conquest (Making of England, #1) in Books

Jan 30, 2019  
C(
Conquest (Making of England, #1)
Stewart Binns | 2011
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fictionalised retelling of the life story of Hereward of Bourne (also known as Hereward the Wake): an Anglo-Saxon who lead the resistance against William the Conqueror following his victory against Harold at Senlac Ridge, in what would become known as the Battle of Hastings.

While it is a name I had heard before, I have to say it's not a story that I was familiar with (unlike that of, say, Robin Hood or King Arthur) - this, however, I actually found to be rather a dry read.
  
    Uncivil

    Uncivil

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Podcast

    America is divided, and it always has been. We're going back to the moment when that split turned...

    Simple Circuits

    Simple Circuits

    Education

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Simple Circuits lets you make virtual circuits. You can then visualise your circuit with pictures,...

40x40

Ross (3284 KP) rated Resistance in Books

Sep 20, 2018  
Resistance
Resistance
Mikhaeyla Kopievsky | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
A dystopian sci-fi tale in which people ("elementals") are split into 4 classes (air - artistic types, water - scientific types, fire - law-enforcing types, and earth - working class grunts) with a strict set of rules and beliefs to be followed. Any attempt to betray these rules would result in swift punishment by the peacekeepers.
Anaiya, one such peacekeeper, is tasked with finding and infiltrating a group of rebels who have started painting the word "resistance" on walls. In order to infiltrate them, she has to undergo a new untested treatment that tries to change her class from fire to air. Thereafter the tale is a pretty standard one of intrigue, plotting and red herrings.
For me the ideas behind the world were interesting, but not very well explained or explored early on. I realise with a book like this any attempt to do so would jar with the atmosphere it is trying to get at, but there are ways to deliver the information needed.
The storyline was pretty much paper-thin and sacrificed in order to have some lengthy, overly descriptive poetic narrative (for example at least 6 pages of the book is devoted to blow by blow accounts of pool matches). The supposed revelation at the end was such an obvious anti-climax as to be ridiculous. I took it to be a symbol of how Anaiya's treatment warped her judgement of who the main suspect is, but it was delivered as a big revelation.
The use of technology in sci-fi always annoys me - new tech that is not described and overly used, with a ridiculous name (a wristplate that can immediately tell you what substances are in your blood as well as heart rate etc, and also be used to download music, play music, communicate, pay for things etc etc).
Similarly, the plot to reveal the head of the resistance hinged on the use of some new technology invented by a member of the resistance itself. This was so flimsy as to be laughable. Also, the fact that a heavy-handed police force like the peacekeepers would look for such tenuous proof of the leadership of the resistance before acting is just plain wrong. The first few chapters, and some of the conversations Anaiya has after her change, serve to show how heavy-handed they are, and any hint of someone's involvement in such treasonous activity would result in swift action.
Overall, the book is atmospheric and interesting but quite badly executed.
And the word "trajectory" is massively overused and at times wrongly used.
  
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Pat Healy recommended Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres) (1969) in Movies (curated)

 
Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres) (1969)
Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres) (1969)
1969 | International, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Jean Pierre-Melville was the undisputed master of the French crime drama. Here he turns his gaze on the French Resistance during World War II (of which he himself was a member) in an entirely unsentimental, unflinching portrait. It not only de-romanticizes the movement with its rigorous and austere account of the day-to-day operations in this gray world, it also indicts it. For all the good the Resistance did, its members were only human: prone to betrayal and petty revenge. The movie is so specific in its regard of the loneliness and fear of these operatives, whose everyday lives alternate between boredom and peril. Unreleased in this country for thirty-seven years, the film was an absolute revelation to me when I saw it upon its release in 2006. Already a major fan of Melville’s crime films, I loved how this one both expands and distills his unique technical skills and his ability to tap into his characters’ emotional states. What emerges is something both complex in design and deeply personal. Casablanca it is not. Melville shows us the inner workings of something so intricate and important while also asking us whether the ends truly justify the means."

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