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David McK (3798 KP) rated Rebellion (Matthew Hawkwood, #4) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
The fourth book in James McGee's Matthew Hawkwood series of books, and over the course of the last two (in particular), the eponymous Bow Street Runner is getting further and further away from his usual haunts!
In this installment, Hawkwood actually spends the vast majority of it in the heart of Imperial France: in Paris itself, while Napoleon is away on his ill-fated Russian campaign. Again taking real historical facts as its basis, this novel concerns itself primarily with a conspiracy attempt to over-throw the regime: an event which, obviously, did not succeed.
If I'm honest, and to draw an anology between these books and the Star Wars films (which might seem strange, but bear with me!), the first couple of books in the series are like the original couple of films: full of danger, action and excitement. This one, unfortunately, is more like Episode I: seeming to be setting itself up for a broader story arc, and more concerned with politics than with action and excitement.
Worth a read? Yes, but if this was my introduction to the series as a whole - which can, by and large, be read independently as they only occassionally refer to earlier events - I wouldn't be going out of my way to look for any others in thes series, unlike if I had read any of the others first.
In this installment, Hawkwood actually spends the vast majority of it in the heart of Imperial France: in Paris itself, while Napoleon is away on his ill-fated Russian campaign. Again taking real historical facts as its basis, this novel concerns itself primarily with a conspiracy attempt to over-throw the regime: an event which, obviously, did not succeed.
If I'm honest, and to draw an anology between these books and the Star Wars films (which might seem strange, but bear with me!), the first couple of books in the series are like the original couple of films: full of danger, action and excitement. This one, unfortunately, is more like Episode I: seeming to be setting itself up for a broader story arc, and more concerned with politics than with action and excitement.
Worth a read? Yes, but if this was my introduction to the series as a whole - which can, by and large, be read independently as they only occassionally refer to earlier events - I wouldn't be going out of my way to look for any others in thes series, unlike if I had read any of the others first.
David McK (3798 KP) rated Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron, Vol. 1 in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Generally speaking, I'm not really a comic-book guy kinda person.
However, I have read (and actually quite enjoyed) the Star Wars: X-Wing series of books, and was aware that these were also (pre Prequel trilogy) comics. However, I was unaware (until relatively recently) that the comics were not just visualizations of the novels, but were rather stories in their own right.
When I found this out, and when I came across the digital version of this Omnibus - which collects the first 3 stories in the X-Wing series [so Goodreads, should count as 3 towards my yearly challenge!] , I thought I would give it a try.
Of the 3 stories contained - Rogue Leader, the Rebel Opposition and The Phantom Affair - the second and third of these were co-written by Michael Stackpole, who also wrote the first X-Wing novels. Personally, while the story may be better in those two than in the first, I preferred the art of the first story, finding the panes easier to follow.
I haven't yet decided, but I may also pick up the next volume(s) in the series.
However, I have read (and actually quite enjoyed) the Star Wars: X-Wing series of books, and was aware that these were also (pre Prequel trilogy) comics. However, I was unaware (until relatively recently) that the comics were not just visualizations of the novels, but were rather stories in their own right.
When I found this out, and when I came across the digital version of this Omnibus - which collects the first 3 stories in the X-Wing series [so Goodreads, should count as 3 towards my yearly challenge!] , I thought I would give it a try.
Of the 3 stories contained - Rogue Leader, the Rebel Opposition and The Phantom Affair - the second and third of these were co-written by Michael Stackpole, who also wrote the first X-Wing novels. Personally, while the story may be better in those two than in the first, I preferred the art of the first story, finding the panes easier to follow.
I haven't yet decided, but I may also pick up the next volume(s) in the series.
David McK (3798 KP) rated Star Wars: Outbound Flight in Books
Jan 30, 2019
If I was asked which author is most associuated with kick-starting the whole Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU), I would have to choose Timothy Zahn, with his 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy. From that trilogy, two of his main protaganists would have to be the Jedi Master Joruus C'Baoth (a clone of the dead Jedi Jorus C'Baoth), and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
In this particular novel in that universe - set between the events of Episode I and Episode II - Zahn returns to those two particular characters, as well as to the fate of the eponymous 'Outbound Flight'. Slightly misleadingly, I felt, the main story does not detail how Thrawn joined the Empire (although there is a short story in the back of my edition that does just that), but instead fleshes out a previously hinted at backstory from his <i>Heir to the Empire</i> series. Set in an earlier peirod, I found it also interesting that it also foreshadows some of the event of the later <i>New Jedi Order</i> series of books - a series that, if I'm honest, I never really took to, preferring instead to primarily remain in or around the Rebellion era.
In this particular novel in that universe - set between the events of Episode I and Episode II - Zahn returns to those two particular characters, as well as to the fate of the eponymous 'Outbound Flight'. Slightly misleadingly, I felt, the main story does not detail how Thrawn joined the Empire (although there is a short story in the back of my edition that does just that), but instead fleshes out a previously hinted at backstory from his <i>Heir to the Empire</i> series. Set in an earlier peirod, I found it also interesting that it also foreshadows some of the event of the later <i>New Jedi Order</i> series of books - a series that, if I'm honest, I never really took to, preferring instead to primarily remain in or around the Rebellion era.
Captain Alatriste: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste
Book
A swashbuckling new adventure series starring the Spanish D'Artagnan - from international bestseller...
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
Star Wars goes western
Star Wars has had somewhat of a chequered history since turning over to the dark side, sorry, I mean Disney. You see, since LucasFilm was acquired by the House of Mouse there has been one Star Wars movie each year. The Force Awakens was good, if a little safe and The Last Jedi was brilliant, but incredibly divisive.
What’s been more exciting to see evolve however, is the Star Wars Story movies. Rogue One became my 2nd favourite film in the series after Empire with Godzilla director, Gareth Edwards proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Then, LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were hired to direct a Han Solo origins story and that got people very excited indeed.Fast forward a few months and they were unceremoniously dumped from the project during filming with veteran director Ron Howard brought in as their replacements. Howard’s name is a concerning one. He’s become something of a director-for-hire over the last decade: competent but not exemplary. Phew! Keeping up? Good.
The resulting film has been plagued by ballooning costs, expensive reshoots and rumours of on-set acting classes for some of the stars. It’s finally here, but are we looking at the first new generation Star Wars failure?
Young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission — the Millennium Falcon.
Thankfully, and by nothing short of a miracle, Solo: A Star Wars Story is engaging, packed full of nostalgia and features an incredible ensemble cast. It’s not perfect by any means, but we’ll get on to that later.
Billed as a heist meets western kinda movie, Solo hits all the right beats to carefully straddle the line between those two genres. The writing is snappy, genuinely funny and engaging with all the cast members doing their fair share of the heavy lifting. Emilia Clarke is great as Solo’s love interest Qi’Ra and Woody Harrelson is as charming as ever in a role that could’ve been serviced by many 50-something actors who could do fancy stuff with a blaster.
It is in Donald Glover however that the film truly belongs. His Lando Calrissian is absolutely, unequivocally sublime. He channels his counterpart from Empire beautifully and you do feel like you’re watching a young Billy Dee Williams in action.
There is some striking imagery throughout the film with the western-style finale being absolutely superb
In fact, there are only two of the main cast members that fail to register in the way that they had clearly intended to do. One is Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos; the Star Wars universe’s first real villain failure. Alas, it’s not the fault of Bettany. The part was originally written for a CGI motion capture performance but was changed at the last minute with reshoots being added for Bettany’s scenes.
The other, unfortunately, is Han Solo himself. Alden Ehrenreich definitely makes all the right noises. He’s cocky, arrogant, self-assured, just like Harrison Ford, but, for all of his effort, he just isn’t doing a Harrison Ford in this film. Now, that doesn’t ruin the movie as much as you might think it does, as it’s easy to just go along for the ride, but at no point in Solo’s run time did I think we were watching a young Harrison Ford in action. Ehrenreich is good, he’s just not that good.
Thankfully, what is that good is the cinematography. The action is staged beautifully, though I’m unsure as to whether this is Howard’s influence or the previous directors. There is some striking imagery throughout the film with the western-style finale being absolutely superb. The CGI is nicely integrated with animatronics and props, just like a Star Wars movie should be, and each of the set pieces is brimming with excitement.
One sequence in particular, involving the liberation of some slaves is really nicely filmed with a great colour palate and the much-marketed monorail heist is edge-of-your-seat stuff with cracking CGI.
Pacing is generally good, and at 135 minutes that is no easy win though things do drag a little about half way through. What is pleasing however, is how the bromance between Chewbacca and Han takes a backseat up until about 40 minutes before the end in which a familiar theme plays over the action: it’s spine-tingling in its simplicity. In fact, John Powell’s score is rousing when it needs to be and beautifully put together. A real match for John Williams’ classic orchestral soundtrack.
Overall, Solo: A Star Wars Story is better than it had any right to be. Whenever a film goes through such a turbulent production process, it’s always concerning that the final product will be somehow lesser in quality, but this isn’t the case here. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but as a continuation of the new Star Wars mantra under Disney, it’s a fitting entry and a great addition to the series.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/05/24/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-stars-wars-goes-western/
What’s been more exciting to see evolve however, is the Star Wars Story movies. Rogue One became my 2nd favourite film in the series after Empire with Godzilla director, Gareth Edwards proving to be a force to be reckoned with. Then, LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were hired to direct a Han Solo origins story and that got people very excited indeed.Fast forward a few months and they were unceremoniously dumped from the project during filming with veteran director Ron Howard brought in as their replacements. Howard’s name is a concerning one. He’s become something of a director-for-hire over the last decade: competent but not exemplary. Phew! Keeping up? Good.
The resulting film has been plagued by ballooning costs, expensive reshoots and rumours of on-set acting classes for some of the stars. It’s finally here, but are we looking at the first new generation Star Wars failure?
Young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission — the Millennium Falcon.
Thankfully, and by nothing short of a miracle, Solo: A Star Wars Story is engaging, packed full of nostalgia and features an incredible ensemble cast. It’s not perfect by any means, but we’ll get on to that later.
Billed as a heist meets western kinda movie, Solo hits all the right beats to carefully straddle the line between those two genres. The writing is snappy, genuinely funny and engaging with all the cast members doing their fair share of the heavy lifting. Emilia Clarke is great as Solo’s love interest Qi’Ra and Woody Harrelson is as charming as ever in a role that could’ve been serviced by many 50-something actors who could do fancy stuff with a blaster.
It is in Donald Glover however that the film truly belongs. His Lando Calrissian is absolutely, unequivocally sublime. He channels his counterpart from Empire beautifully and you do feel like you’re watching a young Billy Dee Williams in action.
There is some striking imagery throughout the film with the western-style finale being absolutely superb
In fact, there are only two of the main cast members that fail to register in the way that they had clearly intended to do. One is Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos; the Star Wars universe’s first real villain failure. Alas, it’s not the fault of Bettany. The part was originally written for a CGI motion capture performance but was changed at the last minute with reshoots being added for Bettany’s scenes.
The other, unfortunately, is Han Solo himself. Alden Ehrenreich definitely makes all the right noises. He’s cocky, arrogant, self-assured, just like Harrison Ford, but, for all of his effort, he just isn’t doing a Harrison Ford in this film. Now, that doesn’t ruin the movie as much as you might think it does, as it’s easy to just go along for the ride, but at no point in Solo’s run time did I think we were watching a young Harrison Ford in action. Ehrenreich is good, he’s just not that good.
Thankfully, what is that good is the cinematography. The action is staged beautifully, though I’m unsure as to whether this is Howard’s influence or the previous directors. There is some striking imagery throughout the film with the western-style finale being absolutely superb. The CGI is nicely integrated with animatronics and props, just like a Star Wars movie should be, and each of the set pieces is brimming with excitement.
One sequence in particular, involving the liberation of some slaves is really nicely filmed with a great colour palate and the much-marketed monorail heist is edge-of-your-seat stuff with cracking CGI.
Pacing is generally good, and at 135 minutes that is no easy win though things do drag a little about half way through. What is pleasing however, is how the bromance between Chewbacca and Han takes a backseat up until about 40 minutes before the end in which a familiar theme plays over the action: it’s spine-tingling in its simplicity. In fact, John Powell’s score is rousing when it needs to be and beautifully put together. A real match for John Williams’ classic orchestral soundtrack.
Overall, Solo: A Star Wars Story is better than it had any right to be. Whenever a film goes through such a turbulent production process, it’s always concerning that the final product will be somehow lesser in quality, but this isn’t the case here. It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but as a continuation of the new Star Wars mantra under Disney, it’s a fitting entry and a great addition to the series.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2018/05/24/solo-a-star-wars-story-review-stars-wars-goes-western/
The White Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #2)
6.5
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Philippa Gregory presents the first of a new series set amid the deadly feuds of England known as...
Merissa (14003 KP) rated Mating Dance (Alien Blood Wars #5) in Books
Mar 29, 2019
Mating Dance (Alien Blood Wars #5) by Samantha Cayto
Mating Dance is the fifth book in the Alien Blood Wars series, although I didn't know this when I received the book to review. I have to say, it DID matter. This is a hybrid - it sort of stands alone, and yet, I also found myself missing out on what had gone before. For example, the relationships between the others, which also play a big part in this book; or the history with the 'big bad'. So... my recommendation? Read it as a series, and you'll be happy!!!
Now, onto the book itself. This was a great read, with plenty of action going on, and I don't necessarily mean between the sheets. Oh, don't get me wrong - there is tension aplenty, but Trey has his reasons, and you fully understand the why's and wherefore's of how he feels. I thought this was explained exceptionally well, giving the reader a deeper insight into one of the main characters.
With no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, I did enjoy this book, but like I've said, I would like to read the previous books in this series, just so I understand all the other relationships properly. The story was intricate and intriguing, and the characters are fully dimensional. I haven't yet read a 'bad' book by Samantha Cayto, and this one was a page-turner from beginning to end.
I definitely recommend this book, on the proviso you have read the prior ones first.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Now, onto the book itself. This was a great read, with plenty of action going on, and I don't necessarily mean between the sheets. Oh, don't get me wrong - there is tension aplenty, but Trey has his reasons, and you fully understand the why's and wherefore's of how he feels. I thought this was explained exceptionally well, giving the reader a deeper insight into one of the main characters.
With no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, I did enjoy this book, but like I've said, I would like to read the previous books in this series, just so I understand all the other relationships properly. The story was intricate and intriguing, and the characters are fully dimensional. I haven't yet read a 'bad' book by Samantha Cayto, and this one was a page-turner from beginning to end.
I definitely recommend this book, on the proviso you have read the prior ones first.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in Video Games
Dec 16, 2017
Not long enough (1 more)
Some of the bosses were hard
If you are a Star Wars fan, The Force Unleashed series might be the closest you ever come to being able to use The Force yourself.
My favorite part of this game was the eventual buildup of Force powers and being able to use them at will.
Choking stormtroopers, throwing them across the room or over a cliff, or chucking your lightsaber at their face was about as much fun as you can have in a video game. Also, being able to throw out Force lightning at a group of troopers all at once is amazing.
I loved just about everything in this game!
My favorite part of this game was the eventual buildup of Force powers and being able to use them at will.
Choking stormtroopers, throwing them across the room or over a cliff, or chucking your lightsaber at their face was about as much fun as you can have in a video game. Also, being able to throw out Force lightning at a group of troopers all at once is amazing.
I loved just about everything in this game!
Good Old Timmy and Other Stories: World Book Day 2017
8.0
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Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog find excitement and adventure wherever they go in Enid...
American Flagg: v. 1
Book
One of the key comics of the 1980s - along with Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns -...