Sorry folks, I won’t be making my usual early post today. I’m going to be in meetings with people for most of the day, and want to do some last minute orientation for the material we’ll be covering. I do want to weigh in on Agents of Shield, now that I’ve watched more episodes of it, but that will probably have to wait until tomorrow.
Author Archives: Henry
Burdens of the Dead, by Flint, Freer & Lackey
The next installment in the Heirs of Alexandria series is here! It took me all of three days to read it, tops, and that was while I was doing other things. Actually it might have been two days, I kind of lost track. Burdens of the Dead offers yet another compulsive read, much like the other books in the series, and explores a fantastical Renaissance-that-might-have-been in which magic works, demons plot the conquest of mankind, and forgotten gods still roam the Earth. If you haven’t read the other books in the series and any of that piques your interest, I strongly recommend that you pick up The Shadow of the Lion, the first installment in the series. I really love this series…
Ladycops bring The Heat
Have any of you seen The Heat? I more or less ignored it until I was stuck on an airplane last week with nothing to do. I won’t claim to be glad that I was on an airplane for so long, but I am glad that I had the chance to watch the movie. The Heat combines stupidity, comedy, entertainingly awkward social interactions and a dash of action in the very familiar buddy-cop formula, and comes out just ahead of the grade. We’re not talking about a new classic, but it’s a fun and funny movie that will happily scratch your comedy-action itch. Better yet, it delivers the tried-and-true buddy-cop comedy with all-female leads.
While there are vast swathes of buddy-cop movies, hordes of films in which we can watch men being silly with and at each other while they fight crime, The Heat is the first that I know of in the genre which stars two women in the leading roles. While this point may feel overplayed, it’s still a big frickin’ deal as far as women’s movie roles are concerned, especially because The Heat has been so successful. I’m not begging for a sequel, but I could certainly go for more movies like it. Why? Well…
I’ve seen enough of these movies to have a good feel for where the story beats are going to come; I won’t claim that I can call them all before they show up, but I rarely feel surprised. Following the ladies offers a different experience. I still expect the pieces that are staples of the buddy-cop genre (which The Heat delivers on), but The Heat’s take on romantic side-interests is refreshingly entertaining (the plucky puppy-dog local FBI agent is worth a good laugh, as are Melissa McCarthy’s terribly mixed signals). These aren’t really new, just a fun reworking of already well-known story patterns.
But I really think the interpersonal social dynamics deserve a mention: we end up sympathizing with two women who are clearly not especially sympathetic according to our standard cultural expectations. These are women who have almost certainly been called “bitch” repeatedly by their detractors. They are brash, overbearing, and competent. But instead of disapproving of them the movie clearly wants us to like them. Novel and intriguing, no? We’ve long been shown men like this and been told that they were protagonists, it seems only fitting that we should see a movie with women in those roles.
The Heat isn’t a masterpiece. It isn’t even terribly unconventional except for its casting of two female leads and how that plays out in the film. But if you are looking for a movie to watch with your friends and you feel the need for buddy-cop goodness, take a look at The Heat.
*SPOILERS*
Oh and by the way, talk about badass: crawling down a long corridor to shoot the bad guy after being stabbed repeatedly in the leg? Groovy. It’s very reminiscent of poor shoeless John McLean with his room full of broken glass in Die Hard.
Wolf Who Rules, by Wen Spencer
I have to admit, my memory of Wolf Who Rules has blended into the book that comes before it (Tinker, which I reviewed last week) and the next one in the series (Elfhome). As you might expect from such a situation, if you liked Tinker you’ll almost certainly like Wolf Who Rules.
I can extricate the details of the plot with some additional focus, but the stories all pile together, following one another so closely that it is not easy to tell where one ends and the next begins. Little is done to ease you back into the story beyond a few quick info drops, but this also means that if you’ve just read Tinker you’ll easily slide along into this one without any sense of confusion. Without one of the sometimes ponderous prolonged reintroductions that are so common to a series, Wolf Who Rules whisks you straight into the next adventure.
Sword & Sworcery
The Scythian.
I finally finished the magnificent Sword & Sworcery. This game is a sumptuously designed experience. Sword & Sworcery shattered my expectations by providing such a beautiful and completely enveloping story that I almost want to call it a story before I call it a game. And don’t get me started about the sound design. Or rather, do, because the music is simply a delight and the sound design creates a beautifully ethereal and dreamlike space that lends an air of enchantment to the entire piece. I’m listening to the music right now, just because I can.
This game is wrapped up in a bizarre shell of self-awareness, with the other characters completely cognizant of the duality of the game and maybe even aware of how everything will end. And yet it still has an emotional pull that I haven’t found in any other games I’ve played recently. Stories I’ve read, movies I’ve watched, yes. Games? No. Despite a one year hiatus part way through completing the game, I’m still exceedingly excited about it. I want to play it again all in one sitting just to get the full and immediate impact.
This is a game worth discovering. It is an adventure that is glorious and sad and perfectly appropriate, all in one. Let me tell you more…
Guns, Gams & Go-Fast Machines: Fast & Furious 6
I feel a little embarrassed saying this, but I recently watched and enjoyed the fast-car soap-opera-with-guns Fast & Furious 6. It was just as intelligent as I had expected it to be, with plenty of zoom-zoom-bang-bang to make up for its intellectual shortcomings. Which is to say, the movie was almost entirely about action and cars. Much as in other entries in the series, women’s legs also made an important appearance by filling the screen at (in)appropriate moments.
While the writers clearly didn’t care one whit about how computers actually work (normal for the genre), they surprised me by offering a genuine sense of continuity with the other Fast/Furious films. This made me very happy indeed, as the various tie-ins towards the end brought Tokyo Drift into relation with the rest of the series. They also clearly established where the next action will most likely take place and why it will be exciting…
Tinker, by Wen Spencer
Wen Spencer surprised me. I picked up Tinker through the Baen ebook store, expecting to find something that would keep me suitably amused while traveling. The book did that, and then it grabbed me and pulled me in. While I should have been working, I read. While I should have been visiting with family, I read. While I should have been sleeping… you get the idea. It turns out that Spencer is very good at delivering on the promises of her pacing; she starts with a bang, and she quickly turns up the heat and adds increasing tension to the mix. There are a few spots where you can sit down and take a breath, but you won’t want to. Add some sections that make you wince and cringe and more sections that are laugh-out-loud funny, and you’ve got Tinker. It’s a bit like a less pulpy version of Girl Genius. Would you like to know more?
The Quiller Memorandum, by Adam Hall
Ah, pseudonyms. Adam Hall was one of the pseudonyms used by the author Elleston Trevor (which was itself not the author’s original name). It seems entirely appropriate to me that such an excellent spy novel should come from someone who felt so compelled to shroud and change their own identity. If you like spy stories and intrigue, or would like to try dabbling in them for the very first time, look no further. Quiller is a far better Cold War spy than the cinematic Mr. Bond ever was, more deeply focused on the details of spycraft, practicing intimate information war as a metaphoric knife fight where you’re never truly certain as to who holds the advantage. Drawing blood is rarely the point of the duel, and secrets are more valuable than lives. The Quiller Memorandum, as you might have guessed, is a very exciting book.
Does the title feel achingly familiar? Just like something that you’ve read before? Well…
1636: The Devil’s Opera, by David Carrico and Eric Flint
Within several hours of writing my piece last week, I had already finished reading 1636: The Devil’s Opera, meaning that I went through it in slightly more than one day despite several interruptions. It’s an addictive delight, just as I had anticipated it would be. In that way, it is completely in keeping with what I’ve come to expect from Eric Flint, and from his 1632 series. And now I want to go back to see what else David Carrico has on offer. He seems promising, and if his other works are anywhere near as good as this one, I’ll be happy to read them. Now then, about this book…
Fistful of Wits 