The real _Wrath of the Titans_?

I went to see Ridley Scott's Prometheus on Thursday.

Some of my friends loathed it, some loved it. I waited until the last possible moment to see it, and saw it in 2D, and don't think I missed much by the choice.

I'm going to write something coherent at some point, but since it's now out of the theaters, I'm not going to worry about spoilers. These are just impressions, not fully fleshed out thoughts.

1) Nice juxtaposition between image and action for the "founders" (big, round, friendly eyes--not-so-friendly behavior)

2) Michael Fassbender continues to impress. But, wow, he's short.

3) Charlize Theron was wasted in her role.

4) Idris Elba. :-)

5) I don't understand the David/O'Toole's T. E. Lawrence connection. I'm sure it was supposed to "reveal" something, but I didn't catch it/didn't understand it. And I've seen Lawrence of Arabia multiple times. And read about the real Lawrence. Need to think about it.

6) The critic's lampooning of the Jurassic Parkness of it was well-grounded, but sort of missed the point.

7) Nope. Still don't like horror movies. Had to keep my eyes shut--a lot.

8) Clearly, they're hoping for a sequel (Sara and David Visit Othrys?), but, really, haven't we seen that already? Isn't that the Terminator films?

9) What is it with Ridley Scott and heroines? I'm sure his psychiatrist wonders, too.

10) Should have gone to Magic Mike. Soderburgh also makes my head hurt, but in a totally different way.

Star Wars: Cloak of Deception by James Luceno

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is set just prior to events in The Phantom Menace. A colleague loaned it to me after I mentioned how I wished there was more Qui Gon Jinn in the Star Wars universe, since Qui Gon is really the hero of this book--the the extent it has one.

I thought the book was better written (in terms of Standard English conventions) than many Star Wars and Star Trek books. In terms of plot and character development, however, it was not very good. Too much plot for too little book. It's really a political thriller, and those require more words and development to be really successful. This book, in fact, is about average length for this genre, and as such, really didn't have the required pages to do the job.

But, it does make The Phantom Menace make a bit more sense. I'll take that, and call it enough.



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A Time for War, A Time for Peace by Keith R.A. DeCandido

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is the final book in the series that covers the gap between the films Insurrection and Nemesis.

I was, overall, disappointed in the book. While it effectively ties up all the loose ends from the six previous books, it is a bit too pat, and the story line itself is not very engaging. The one "action" plot line, which involved lots of Klingons, I might add, was...dull. (How, I wonder, can scenes that involve Klingons using weapons be dull? Yet, here it has been achieved. Impressive.) The Federation presidential election line was...politics as usual. And the Starfleet suspense line (with the gratuitous presence of Adm. Montgomery Scott) was...*yawn.* Even the Klingon politics, and the appearances by Martok, failed to engage. I can almost hear my mental warp engine gearing up to power, and then winding down pathetically.

Oh, well. Perhaps my problem is that it is too much character and talking, and not enough phasers and bat'leths.





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Heat Wave by Richard Castle

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Fortunately, my expectations for this book were not high, so I suffered no sting of disappointed expectations.

It is a book "by" the character played by Nate Fillon on the TV show Castle. I enjoy Fillon, I enjoy the show, so I thought it would be a pleasant diversion to read the tie-in.

The problem is that in the TV show Rick Castle is presented as not only a successful, but a good writer of the genre, and his heroine, Nikki Heat, as being sexy, strong, and compelling. Alas, the book is average at best, bordering on mediocre, and Nikki is self-indulgent, and condescending, bordering on mean.

Next time I'm tempted to pick up a Nikki Heat book, I think I'll just pop in a Castle DVD. I don't like the heroine any better, but I like the surrounding characters MUCH more.



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Murder On Monday by Ann Purser

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I wanted to like this book.

I love the "cozy" style of mystery, and if the setting is English, so much the better. In those respects, this book was exactly what I expected. And I liked the notion that the amateur sleuth was a young working class mother with a working class husband.

There was nothing wrong with the mystery itself. And the author even managed some brief shifts of point of view (letting us into the minds of many of the suspects and some of the other villagers) deftly. The writing was unobjectionable--not stellar, but I didn't find myself editing the grammar and language as I went along, and for a thin little paperback that is what I require.

No, the problem is I don't like the amateur sleuth at the heart of the story. For all she's got some great kids, a supportive mom, and a not-perfect, but hard-working, loving husband, she's self-absorbed, quick to take offense, judgmental.... These, of course, are perfectly human attributes, and she's basically a decent human being, but I find I really don't want to spend time with her, her daughter, nor really even husband Derek. I certainly don't want to spend time with the coppers who use her to dig up information by snooping on her clients.

So, that was an interesting experience, but not one I think I'll repeat with any of the successive novels. Purser's books are published by the same house that does the Susan Wittig Albert China Bayles series. I think I'll stick to those.



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Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had forgotten just how much I love the world Paksenarrion lives in.

A few months ago Elizabeth Moon (reminder--she's a veteran) said something that got her in hot water with some of the fantasy/science fiction community. It was an honest comment, that read in full I didn't find that objectionable, but in sound bite was...not very PC. She got disinvited to WisCon (where she was originally slated as Guest of Honor), and the blogosphere went rather rabid for a bit. So I started reading her blog. Often it's about singing in her church choir. And cooking. And her, and her husband's health. And writing. This past year her new book, Kings of the North came out, and she was understandably enthusiastic. The more she wrote I realized that it was the second in a new set of books set in Paks's world. I had completely missed that she'd returned there, and frankly, after Surrender None, I'd sort of lost my taste for the series. This book, Oath of Fealty, is the first. So I got it as soon as I could devote the time to reading it.

Oath of Fealty is that rarest of books--the one where you want more detail, more dialogue, more description, even though it is richly textured, full of clear images, and conversations. It's just that when she changes scenes, you aren't ready to leave yet--you're having too good a time, you're so immersed in what's happening there, in that moment, that you don't want it to end. Who cares about moving the plot along! I want to sit around while Doran goes from village to village cleaning out the blood magic, no matter how "tedious" that might seem. I want to spend time with Kieri while he figures out the finances for Lyonya. I want to go with Jandolir when he goes to the bankers in each town, and listen to what they say, not just when it's moving the plot forward. Moon has made these people ones I want to spend time with, work with, support with word and deed. But for those who love plot, there's plenty. Ambush, and skullduggery, blood magics, and sword play. And loyalty, and growth, and people you can believe in.

When I finished the book it was with a real sense of emptiness--like leaving a beloved place. Fortunately, I have the next on order!



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The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is nothing like the kind of thing I choose to read. It is the kind of thing found in the "New fiction" section at Barnes and Noble, or "Literature" in other places. I'm a genre fiction sort of girl, and so this isn't something I'd have ever read under normal conditions.

But, when the Vice President comes flying down the hall to give you her copy because she's sure you'd enjoy it...well.... And to be fair, we did talk about it when we were doing the Walk for the Cure in October, and our tastes do overlap considerably.

So, I figured--what the heck! I'll give it a go.

It was lovely.

The narrative voice is...witty, and acerbic, and warm (as appropriate), and just a little odd. Odd in a good way (a very original use of first person). It has three interesting sisters as the protagonists--and this is the chick-lit part that normally I don't go near--who are growing, and learning, and becoming better than they start out the book as.

There were some uncomfortable moments, like seeing some of what I like least about myself on the page; some events are near triggers given what is going on in the lives of some friends; and making me feel homesick for the family I've lost, for dreams I abandoned. But, for all that, I'm glad I read it.

But, of course, I've gone on too long, a bit incoherently. If I were the father in this novel, I'd simply have said,

"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream..."



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