Tabula Rasa lj

I've read something like two novels this year. My heart just isn't in it. When it comes to the first chapters of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Roman Dusk, my heart may have a point.

I did get through Nick Cave's The Death of Bunny Munro, though. I don't know -- lots of clever and painful stuff, but the ending lost it for me, a bit.

We just watched season 1 of The Wire, and as reported it is very good. Occasionally a tad contrived, but I only really say that because it struck me as not quite the 'Best TV show ever' (it is still early days).

True Blood is a bit more problematic. I guess my problem is everyone is sort of passive, and it can get a bit tedious, which is sad because they do a lot of really good things, specifically with the vampire stuff.

In contrast, the first episode of Being Human is a bit dodgy on vampire politics, but is otherwise great. Definitely seeing where that is going. This is the new one about the vampire, werewolf and ghost who move in together.

Also, the new World of Warcraft stuff looks very funky.

My review of Greg Egan's Incandescence is up at ASif.

I keep thinking I've done my last review for them -- it's not them, it's me -- but here we are again. I'd like it if the book was better, admittedly.

the person who designed this ad:

Amazon Books in Australia: Booktopia has a wide range of books about the Amazon...

I bet it does.

Meanwhile, I see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is coming next year. After the entirely tedious second instalment, I can't say I'm all agog. With any luck it will actually be an adaptation of John Wyndham's Trouble with Lichen instead. Or at least star Kate Moss. (OK, I'm sure that has been said before, possibly by me, but you really should be more careful when naming your monsters.) I discovered this quote from the book:

This is not the age of reason, this is the age of flummery, and the day of the devious approach. Reason's gone into the backrooms where it works to devise means by which people can be induced to emote in the desired direction.

I'm stuck at home, flu-bound. Before I start exploring the recuperative powers of BioShock and Burnout Paradise, some quick reviews:

Blood Ties: Drawn and Quartered
Once again this show uses some standard genre tropes and makes a really lovely episode out of them. The characters, old and new, make it. This ep is about haunted artwork and obsession, and the fact that the art on display is actually pretty good helps too.

Doctor Who: Midnight
Yes, I have been snarky about Russell T Davies in the past, but not this time. Midnight is a story about ordinary people caught up in the sort of situation the Doctor sees all the time, and how they might react -- to him, let alone the monster. It's chilling, and also one of the rare single episode stories that feels just right for its running time.

Life on Mars 2.2
I'm sure I've been snarky about Chris Chibnall too, and though I don't often notice the writers on this sort of thing, I did see his name pop up. This time my impressions were confirmed, with some snappy dialogue and grand ideas, but overall rather confused. I see Chris also wrote a S1 ep (cleverly entitled 1.7), and I don't remember that being bad, so there you go.

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
Here's a surprise addition to the list. This is a much loved novel but, well, I didn't think it was all that good. There is indeed some lovely writing and beautiful sentiment, but sadly undermined by a lot of details that didn't make sense. I never understood the logistics of the murder, character actions didn't always gel, and the ending is a bit of a cop-out. I just had a peek at the wiki page, and they mention a problem or two -- but subtle things that I hadn't picked up on, as opposed to the seemingly glaring things that I did.

Maybe I'm just confused, and should go lie down again.

Just read a cool pair of stories from artbroken, available in a little chapbook called Seven Down from Vignette Press. Not sure I could or should classify them, so you should just give them a go.

I read Shiny #1. This could probably be classed as unexpected, since I didn't even know beforehand it was all about death. I can attest to the fact it is difficult to travel in the back-seat of a car with a full-sized scythe.

I just read Jim Butcher's Fool Moon. Since I quickly recognised the episode of the Dresden Files which was based on this novel, I thought I knew what I was in for — but no. For a start, there was a lot more werewolves. As with the first Dresden novel, he conveys a large scale and pulls it off pretty well, not really explaining how all this weirdness is supposed to fit together, but keeping the magic grounded nicely. Good fun.

In the meantime, the first Bionic Woman episode was pretty rough and mostly through the motions, but has potential.

At least Section One is a lot better organised, as Kyla said. It was nice to see Miguel Ferrer again (putting me in mind of that other Nikita remake, just to complicate matters). And since we're being all referential, Jamie Sommers as a name seems rather close to another tv heroine, although that isn't exactly its fault.

Somewhat late to the party, I have just read Graham Joyce's Requiem, and excellent it is too. Reminds me somewhat of Song of Kali, but about Christianity.

(I got an email a little while ago, upbraiding me for recommending Song of Kali, despite its unfavourable depiction of the goddess.)

The AHWA has a chat with Ellen Datlow coming up.

Insanity: They're remaking Near Dark. What next... Strange Days? (those Y2K parties were wild).

The NY Times is abandoning its pay-for-content tonight. Back to reading the op-eds for me.

We've just seen Primer. Freaky, man.

But I'm suspicious. It is the tenth anniversary of google being registered (more or less). A couple of guys in a garage take over the world... Did they really use a search engine?

Also, I read the chapter on time travel in The Science of Stephen King today. Mere coincidence, of course. But in any sane world, would I have wandered into a video shop this week to see Steve's wacky time travel romp, The Langoliers, being played?

I think not.

If nothing else, somebody should go back in time and tell the editor to make it half the length, and perhaps make a decent movie. (The Langoliers. I don't think cutting Primer in half would help.)

The Science of Stephen King isn't much good, alas. It manages to improve after the first disastrous chapter (on ESP), but still doesn't provide a particular coherent look at either science or Steve's work. A shame because, now I think about it, there could be potential in such an odd idea.

It did manage to equate two branes colliding with a certain Buick, which was a good trick. Made me regret yet again I couldn't get any brane-eaters in All Tomorrow's Zombies.

Another review is up, this time Kyla doing Temeraire: Throne of Jade.

(I think I get a mention...)

I suspect I should do a slightly more reasoned review of Temeraire, since I wasn't entirely serious last time round. Indeed, if I had read a further chapter, I would have actually got to some combat, and even sex. I do think the central concept of Napoleonic dragons, complete with flight crews, is an excellent one -- but in the end, it still wasn't for me. Too many details didn't quite add up, and the prose was rather bloodless. More importantly, these dragons weren't the regal beasts I was expecting, but more akin to neurotic nine-ton house cats.

Not that I begrudge anyone their enjoyment, for fear of a lynnching (sorry).

We also finished the three and a half version of Alexander, which couldn't be called bloodless. Its main problem is one of focus -- we see so many of Alexander's problems in close up, it's hard to imagine the larger successes. I agree with Oliver Stone's assessment: if you liked the cinematic cut, you'll like this one more. If you hated it, you'll hate this more as well.

Am two thirds of the way through Temeraire: His Majesty's Dragon (aka Temeraire). With all due respect to those with more X than I, it's a bit... girly.

We're also half way through Alexander, Revisited, yet another cut of Oliver Stone's much-disliked movie. (For those unaware, the so-called Director's cut was forced on him, to make it more chronological with less gay bits.) Thus far it is working great -- even with all the jumping about and added scenes, it flows a whole lot better.

Black Sheep (the movie): not too bad.

Bill Congreve has the best answer to Q5 of of the Snapshot, so far. He provides some sensible commentary as well.

I've just seen a Sopranos spoiler. Bugger. And the DVDs aren't out till October...

Stephen King is rocking around Alice Springs.

I didn't remember Randle McMurphy wearing Moby Dick underwear... This is quite possibly because I haven't previously read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest after all, and only studied sections in High School.

We tried to do our tax today, only to realise the documents we'd been sent weren't the right ones... Still, it was amusing to see the accountant telling us to lie be creative.

Speaking of odd documents, my sponsored child 'graduated' out of the program recently. I discovered this because I was sent an unexpected bill for my next payment, and had to ring up to ask why. I don't really mind, but it's not exactly how you would imagine this happy occasion unfolding.

We had a house inspection yesterday; voluntarily, if you'd believe it. This is in aid of nascent wanderlust, but nothing is likely to come of it for some time, I suspect.

I completed yesterday's DA cryptic crossword -- by no means the first time, but still a rarity. The theme was very sneaky, and managed to fit all sorts of interesting people in.

We've spent the evening playing Dungeoneer, since again we had too many absentees for Ravenloft. There was much chaos, but using two different levels (haunted forest and lich lord's tomb) worked well.

We found that new Dymocks store I mentioned, and grabbed some Ray Garton, which was a bit unexpected. Meanwhile, Storm Front is picking up nicely, just as I discovered the Dresden Files TV show has been cancelled.

I wondered today if I should get myself organised and head out to New York for World Fantasy, come November. On reflection, I suspect not. At least not without a complete manuscript, on the off chance an agent might wander up to me randomly.

Which brings me (thank God) to the point. I guess I need to start writing tomorrow. The course is over; I have a plan. Now I just need a dearth of distractions (all of the above notwithstanding), as well as a vibrant supporting cast, and words.

It has been a strange day or two for local genre news. Here's a round-up (we'll wait till the Black Sheep fiasco resolves itself, though the fact we won tickets to the movie is presumably unrelated).

Christian Read (the_christian) has just had his supplement for the Call of Cthulhu game published: Mythos Magic. Here's his note about it. The cover is by toniaw. Looks excellent.

We got an email from some nice person telling us about their comic: The List (a tale of primal rage, insanity, and violence). I don't know much more about it than that, as yet, but it looks interesting.

On similar subject and medium, I found this recently: The Canberra Heresy: The Arcane Legacy of Walter Burley Griffin. I haven't put it up in the gallery yet, because that's #2, and I'm trying to contact the author about #1. From what I've seen, it hasn't got the most coherent of narratives, but at least the title is catchy.

People in southern Sydney may be interested to know the Dymocks Miranda is setting itself up as a SF/Fantasy/comics specialist. They are taking proactive steps in that direction anyway, including reaching out to locals, imports, and no less than two MySpace pages. We must go visit and see how it stacks up.

Finally, if there's anyone in Perth or Melbourne who wants a signed Prismatic, book plates with all three signatures (quite a rarity, actually) are now available from Fantastic Planet and the Angus & Robertsons, Frankston.

I don't post much about what I've been reading, but here's some quick highlights from the last fortnight:

They Hunger, by Scott Nicholson: For those wondering about the use of MySpace, I bought this novel solely because the author turned up in my friend's list, and it looked fun. It was too; I'm not entirely sure it arrived anywhere, but it was fairly trippy on the way, with lots of texture and some distinctly weird vampires.

Blaze, by Richard Bachman: This novel had its faults, and Stephen King more or less lists them in his foreword. It doesn't break a lot of new ground, but I enjoyed it a lot.

(In related news, I hear they're considering filming The Long Walk. The result should be terrifying -- even if not, this is the best of the Bachman books, for anyone wanting to give them a go.)

Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill: This had a lot of excellent stuff in it, and I can see why it has caused a stir. I do think the characterisation gets a bit sloppy at times, which is a bit sad because the detail upon which it builds is great.

(I'm not sure I blogged it at the time, but there was an article about Joe in the NY Times a while ago. The description of Stephen King's kids playing the Call of Cthulhu RPG was heart-warming. "Joe was always dungeon master. You had sanity points, and it was like, if you encountered Yog-Sothoth one too many times, you were crazy. You could only have so many adventures, and then you had to have a new character, and I thought that was brilliant.")

Hellblazer: The Red Right Hand, by Denise Mina: Denise's run on Hellblazer was a strange one. Interesting things are happening, but working out precisely what is often tricky. It gets clearer towards the end, but remains arrhythmical and odd. (DC's decision to release the trade collections out of order -- over-lapping this story with the end of Carey's run -- really didn't help.)

Crossing Midnight, by Mike Carey: I seem to be reading a lot of Carey recently, and he can juggle both street level and high-magic mythos adeptly. This comic, in which he tackles Japanese spirits, seems a bit slow to me, but has definite highlights. I'd be more tempted to buy his novels if they weren't about yet another bloody supernatural detective. Speaking of which:

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher: 100 pages in, and it hasn't really grabbed me as yet. But there are funny bits (for better or worse), and it makes an interesting comparison with the show. The actual magic is interesting, and if he can pull a coherent background out of all these unsubtle elements, he'll be doing well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling: Yeah, I already talked about this one. On reflection, my feeling that she passed over too much stuff, in her determined drive to the final battle, has only strengthened. Hermione's big moment and the consequences of all those unforgivable curses flying about, for two.

Unsettled Places, by George Morgan. OK, this is mainly for completion, as you're probably not too interested in Aboriginal urbanisation. But I did like this quote: "While most of their male colleagues were off conducting hairy-chested feats of ethnography in remote areas, women broke the new ground of urban anthropology".

Otherwise, I can report The Fly commentary is very good thus far, and we've decided Dead Zone S4 is our next slab-o'-tv to get through.

The book is done.

Is good.

( A few brief comments, including (oblique) spoilers )

In other news, we were going to watch a movie after dinner, to catch up on our ever burgeoning DVD collection. But Kyla has finished Temeraire #1 -- she recommends it highly -- and grabbed Deathly Hallows. From the occasional strangled cries, I suspect I am alone.

It's been very retro of late. In D&D the characters have been rocking round Castle Ravenloft, mere days after General Strahd was slain for killing his brother. I've also just been put in mind of The Navigator, a fabulous time travel movie -- though I'm not sure I'd pay the US$130-$200 being asked on Amazon for it (and not even widescreen).

In our quest for 80s horror, we finally managed to catch the real thing: Cronenberg's The Fly. It still has it.

(It may mean Jeff Goldblum naked, but it has been determined this is not a good reason to watch the movie.)

Also finished Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box and started Scott Nicholson's They Hunger, which seem retro, if only because, well, they are good. Scary but true.

I have discovered that when you do an image search for 'Bellis Coldwine' (protagonist of China Miéville's The Scar), this is one of the first to appear:

( Read more... )

The past ain't what it used to be. Just got emailed an ad for some new downloadable movie site:

It offers a range of movies from Hollywood blockbusters to old favourites like Matrix Reloaded and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

It doesn't make me feel old, it makes them look stupid.

I have finally got my writing assignment for this week — there was some sort of email mix-up. Fortunately I have a head-start thanks to previous attempts to write this ornery novel. In the meantime, I'm a third of the way through Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box which is indeed very good thus far.