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The Bandersnatch (199 KP) rated The Novice (Black Magician Trilogy, #2) in Books

Nov 7, 2019

Contains spoilers, click to show

The second Book in the Trilogy The Novice was published in 2002 and is followed by The Black Magician (2003). the continuing story follows Sonea through entering the guild and after experiencing abuse from her fellow students and having her guardianship changed from Rothen to the High Lord Akkarin. After beating a bully in a duel, Sonea is faced with an unknowing future under her serious and strange guardian.

I loved the second book especially How Sonea dealt with the class abuse form the other students and the threat of the high lord Akkarin after he finds out she knows his dirty little secret. And I especially loved Sonea defeating her bully in a duel showing both the bully and the guild she wasn't to be messed with especially since she took a lot of hell from most if not all of them.

Kudos

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Powersat (The Grand Tour #1) in Books

Nov 25, 2019

Powersat (The Grand Tour #1)

Ben Bova | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Dan Randolph has a dream - cheap power for all delivered via a series of orbital sun-powered 'Powersats' that will beam their energy down to Earth. However this is a huge project and there are any number of things that can go wrong. Dan will need to summon all his resources as a businessman and format astronaut to ensure his brainchild has a future.

This is a pretty solid start to the Grand Tour series of books, which seek to show the reader every corner of the solar system together with a gripping story. The science is accurate and plot is certainly gripping.

However this is a fairly workmanlike book, feeling a lot like Bova was writing with gritted teeth to actually get it finished. As a result it is a good but not great work of fiction.

Kudos

Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies

Feb 1, 2020

Near Dark (1987)

1987 | Horror, Mystery, Western

7.6

(16 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

A relatively simple tale of a recently turned vampire and his initiation into a sadistic group of other vampires (we assume that’s what they are as the V word isn’t said once in the film) is an atmospheric and compelling watch that stylistically is more like a western than anything else. Kathryn Bigelow’s use of a fair chunk of future husband James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ cast is largely successful (apart from some quite hammy overacting from Bill Paxton) and they make for thoroughly nasty adversaries (that bar scene being particularly brutal). I also liked the haunting Tangerine Dream score which adds nicely to the atmosphere but didn’t really buy the fact that vampirism could seemingly be so easily cured by a simple blood transfusion. That was a minor quibble though and overall I thought the film worked well.

Kudos

Ross (3284 KP) rated Star Trek: Picard - Season 1 in TV

Apr 2, 2020

Star Trek: Picard - Season 1

2020 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

6.3

(6 Ratings)

TV Season Rating

High hopes let down

I'm sure we all had a vision of what the triumphant, long-awaited return of Captain Jean-Luc Picard would look like. The series starts and ends in that vein, being exciting, thoughtful and with a moral lesson, but with a lot of padding throughout the series. Much like Discovery, the series decided to throw a lot of side adventures in the mix and while Picard is much more focussed than its Netflix cousin there are still times when it drags.
Stewart tries well to play his most famous role, but his age shows at times and I felt the makers missed the chance to sensitively keep his character but replaced with a younger actor in the last episode. This would have allowed Stewart to bow out gracefully and show more promise for the future series of his life.