"Vorkosigan Saga" reread: "Cetaganda" by Lois McMaster Bujold

As I planned, I continue with my "Vorkosigan Saga" reread, inserted occasionally between other books. This time it was "Cetaganda" - as I said I was reading the books in internal chronology order, starting from "The Warrior's Apprentice".

In "Cetaganda", Miles and Ivan are sent on a diplomatic "mission" - as high nobles of Barrayar they are to attend the funeral of Cetagandan Empress. Cetaganda, as in Barrayar's greatest enemy. And they are told to behave. This changes even before they set a foot on Cetagandan territory. The two of them are victims on random assault, during which Miles come into a possession of some Cetagandan trinket. A trinket that everybody wants back and that can decide the future of Cetaganda...

"Cetaganda" is a book little off the tracks. By that, I mean that even it fits in internal chronology, it is more of a side book. You won't miss anything if you skip it (well, nothing except much fun). Events here don't affect later books, except in small details (like the medal, or as old love). So I was a bit in doubt to read it or skip it, since I remember it quite well and know that it is not very important in larger scheme. But as I also knew it was a very fun read, I decided to reread it.

Miles is here between big roles. He is not a young inexperienced leader as in past books, nor is he hyperactive professional megalomaniac as in next few following books. He continues his habit of manipulating his superiors when they (potentially) bother him. He also continues to "bully" his cousin Ivan, even though Ivan more or less lets him do it. All other characters are pretty well written, even those that only appear once or twice. Bujold can make them feel three-dimensional just in few sentences.

As for plot, it is combination between action, detective investigation and a little bit of comedy.

Bujold continues to do well with setting. It is imaginative so much it would not pass any tests, but it is written so unobtrusively that everybody just accepts it as it is.

One of my favorite parts of this book is in the end, when Miles receives his medal. And I like the scene where this same medal appears in few books later!

As I said, "Cetaganda" is not an important book in this series, but if you skip it, you will miss all the fun. A great book for all fans of the series.

"Vorkosigan Saga" reread: "The Vor Game" by Lois McMaster Bujold

I am going forward with my reread of the "Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold, so last week I finished "The Vor Game", the second book featuring adventures of Miles Vorkosigan.

"The Vor Game" takes place few years after "The Warrior's Apprentice". Miles has spent last three years in the Imperial Academy, training to become a normal (as he can be) Barrayaran officer. After finishing it successfully, he gets another test before being let to proceed with his career - a 6-month post on Kyril Island, one of most extreme and stressful bases on Barrarayar. After almost managing to avoid any troubles, he is forced to choose between his career and his conscience, which again lands him in political troubles. All this is just a prelude into his new adventures that will once again join him with his Dendarian Fleet. Miles will be forced to manipulate both his friends and his enemies. But this time, much more depends on Miles - life of his Emperor, and fate of several planets.

Even though "The Vor Game" was written after several other books in the same setting, it is not such a smooth read as was "The Warrior's Apprentice", at least in the beginning. Bujold introduces a lot of expansions on the setting and throws in a lot of unfamiliar terms (fast-penta, galactic history and relationships, and so on...). Nevertheless, this doesn't damage the enjoyment of reading this book. Again, Bujold was able to make a SF setting far in the future without disclosing the technology behind it - instead focusing on characters and the plot. Again, the book is darker than I remembered it.

There are lot of similarities between plots of "The Vor Game" and its prequel, but as I said before, this one is for bigger stakes. First part of the book (one third, maybe) is focused more on Barrayar, and it brings it much closer that the first part had. But as the book goes forward, so the plots becomes much faster and risks bigger. My favorite part of it is the head-to-head negotiation between Miles and Commander Cavilo near the end - some really good fast-talk. It is funny and thrilling at the same time.

Characters are Bujold's forte, starting with Miles. You can see he has grown, but he became more solid and thicker in the frames that were set in "The Warrior's Apprentice". Other characters are also great. In this book we are first time really introduced to Simon Illyan who will have a large role in series, as one of most important reference points for Miles. If I have to point one thing that I didn't like, that was the easy shortcut that Bujold took with Admiral Oser.

"The Vor Game" continues and expands the formula Bujold wrote with "The Warrior's Apprentice" - a thrilling and rushing military SF. Except if you are a really hard-core hard SF fan, this is a book and series I would recommend to anybody

Anime review: "Mardock Scramble"

I don't remember when I first noticed "Mardock Scramble", but I had it in my AniDB wishlist a long time. The last movie of three came out more than a year ago now, but I had to wait till few weeks ago for subs to appear. And now, I have finally satisfied my curiosity.

"Mardock Scramble" has a very appealing premise: a cyberpunk action thriller. Although I don't really like cyberpunk in literature, I always have a soft spot such anime. And this one looked pretty ambitious, so I thought this one was worth of wait.

The main character of "Mardock Scramble" is Rune Balot, a teen girl forced to a life of prostitution. But her current customer, Shell, turns out to be really insane, burning her in his car. But Rune is saved in last second and "revived" in artificial and upgraded body by Doctor Easter and his partner upgraded Oeufcoque, members of special law-unit "Scramble 09". She has to choose whether to die or to live and testify against Shell. But to stop her from testifying against him, Shell hires Boiled, Oeufcoque's former partner, another experiment with artificial body and unique abilities...

At first, I was thrilled with this anime. It started very intense, with interesting futuristic setting that is mostly implied and not explained, gritty and dark. The animation looked old and new at the same time, CGI heavy. First part ended in a cliff-hanger so I eagerly proceeded with second and third one... To be left pretty disappointing in the end. Not by the ending itself, but by the whole anime, which doesn't live up to the hype.

As I said, "Mardock Scramble" has an interesting, cyberpunk setting. Flying and automatic cars, human enchantments, artificial sentient beings - on one side. On the other hand: drugs, prostitution, government unable or unwilling to stop the crime... But anime fails to develop and use it properly. All we get are vague implications of unclear technology and society. There are anime (or books) that manage to pass only hinting at the setting, but this is not one of them. Well, to be fair, setting is not really that bad objectively, but I expected much more from it.

As for the plot, this was my biggest disappointment. In the essence, I understood there is a story about Rune trying to testify against Shell, and he trying to stop her using Boiled. But everything except that I am not very clear with. This is again connected to undefined setting: why was Shell allowed to attack the only witness against himself, why was there an antagonism between Rune's protectors and Shell's protectors... I was not able to follow half of their talks, and I don't believe it was because of bad translations. And that part in the casino (which is not short) - it's pointless and confusing (even if you know how to play poker, roulette and black-jack).

I also had problems with the overall style of the anime. It was a dark cyberpunk, so one can expect it to be brutal, violent, gritty, with lots of nudity and sex. And as you can see from my choice of literature and anime, I don't have any problem with it - on the contrary. But most of it here was unnecessary and unexplainable, just for fan service. I don't mind it when something is gritty, or dark, or real setting; but what's the explanation of a girl showing up for fight-to-death dressed only in duck-tape.

So, ultimately, I expected much from "Mardock Scramble", but I was left disappointed by it. Not really bad, but if you want to see a really great cyber/SF anime, go watch one of the "Gost in the Shell" anime.

"Vorkosigan Saga" reread: "The Warrior's Apprentice" by Lois McMaster Bujold

When I was in high-school and library was my only source of books, and very limited one, "Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold was one of the series that I would read every year or so, including also ASoIaF, "The Lord of the Rings", "Hyperion Cantos" and few others. Since I refocused myself on buying new books I haven't reread these books, which means some 10 years. But Bujold has published two new books in series recently and before reading them, I decided to reread all previous books. This is not going to be a classical reread when I read all books in one go, but instead an occasional reread, one book every few months. Also, I mean to include only the main books in sequence

• "The Warrior's Apprentice"
• "The Vor Game"
• "Cetaganda"
• "Brothers in Arms"
• "Mirror Dance"
• "Memory"
• "Komarr"
• "A Civil Campaign"
• "Diplomatic Immunity"

In "The Warrior's Apprentice" we start the story of Miles Vorkosigan, the main protagonist of the series. A victim of unsuccessful assassination attempt on his parents, Miles was left physically deformed and undeveloped, which is considered a great shame and disadvantage on his planet Barrayar. Barrayar is very strict society, based I would say partly on Soviet Russia and partly on Medieval Europe, and quite militaristic. They have a feudal system and until few dozen years they lived as in medieval times (consequence of prolonged isolation from other human cultures), but recently they again acquired means to interact with other planets. This, of course, caused many changes on their culture which is now a mix a feudal society and high technology democracy (swords and spaceships). It is understandable that as a freak and invalid Miles is feeling awkward in his surrounding, especially as heir of famous noble family, distinguished by its past victories. Additionally, Miles' father is former Regent of Barrayar Empire and current Prime-Minister. After failing to join the Imperial military academy (both his and his father's and grandfather's dream), Miles is feeling like having no reasons for life anymore. To past the time and to help his childhood friend to see some of the world (universe), they travel to Beta Colony, his mother's home-planet, where they will more or less blindly wander into an adventure including space mercenaries and civil war on another planet...

Books in this series always have interesting plots, even though they are driven primarily by Miles' characters. Such is this one: after using his cunning and intelligence to pull himself and his followers from one trouble, Miles usually manages to entangle to another, more dangerous one. Add to this his basically chivalrous nature (especially toward women and weak) and the fact that his family is one of the crucial members of his culture, you can surmise that these plots are pretty vivid. Nevertheless, Bujold's writing makes all this feel natural and consistent. 

Point of view is third-person, but it reveals much of Miles inner working, which is probably one of the biggest appeals of the series. It relies very much on his hyperactive behavior and his byzantine plots. Other character will get more (much more) place in further books, but in this one we focus mostly on Miles and more-or-less only superficially get to know other characters. Miles presents a very interesting plot, with his physical deformities but great mind. His motivations are also very intriguing - even though his society hates or dismisses him, all his life he tried to become a part of it. This will prove even more the focal point of series in later books.

As I mentioned, setting is SF, with advanced military technology, worm-holes for space traveling and other wonders. On the other hand, we have Barrayar, which is such an antique society (it is considered almost barbaric by others). Later we will get to know other, even more quaint places. Bujold made a very successful mix, drawing both fans of SF for the setting, and fans of fantasy for the plots and characters. Because, in essence, replace technology with magic and you get a classical fantasy book. Technology never gets much background explanation and this makes it still feel fresh (even though some of the books were written 20 years ago).

I remember these books as very easy and fun read. So I was left a bit surprised how dark this first book actually is - and further books are even darker. Sure, we get a happy end (or a kind) in every book, but main characters do die or suffer irreparable damage. And they deal with it. Innocent and weak also suffer and our protagonist is not always able to save everybody. So, a pretty realistic books - not gritty but not sunny also.

So, as a start of the series, "The Warrior's Apprentice" is a very good book. Interesting, with flamboyant main character but also with a dose of realism, with solid setting, it is a book I would recommend to anybody, not just fans of specific genre. One of my favorites...

Book review: "Emperor of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence

I don't usually read sequelling books immediately one after another, but like to spread them over some time, maybe insert a reread now or then. But after reading "Prince of Thorns", I just couldn't resist reading "King of Thorns", as I also couldn't resist reading "Emperor of Thorns" immediately it was published last week. With this, I finished "The Broken Empire" trilogy by Mark Lawrence.

"Emperor of Thorns", similarly to KoT, has three plots-lines. The main one, the present, is happening two years after Jorg Ancrath's defeat of Prince of Arrow and becoming a King of seven nations, instead of just one. As the book starts, Jorg is just preparing for a journey to the Congression, a meeting of rulers that happens every four years and on which the Emperor can be chosen. Jorg is going there pretty sure he will be selected Emperor, because if he is not, he will pretty upset... Second plot continues immediately his adventures at Horse Coast, expanding them eventually to continent of Afrique. And while in KoT we had Katherine's story, here we have Chella's story, a POV by character opposite to Jorg from the first book.

If you have read first two books in "The Broken Empire" trilogy, you know what to expect: blood and violence. In my review of "King of Thorns", I said one or twice that Jorg felt softer than in "Prince of Thorns", not killing or maiming people randomly. This is also true here; as Jorg says, he has overgrown killing people on whim, but it doesn't mean that he will balk of anything necessary to protect those he cares about. And people, Jorg actually openly cares for somebody in this book. This makes him at the same time softer and harder than before. Softer, as I said, because he is not a loose cannon anymore; but harder, because he will not stop at anything defending what is his.

I really have to congratulate Mark Lawrence for making Jorg develop so much, but making it feel so natural. And also for successfully making such brutal and unique character, more evil than villains in some books, a protagonist and a person to root for. Because, it is quite impossible not to root for Jorg. And if you have any liking for anti-heroes, gray-morality or for gritty literature, you will just adore this book.

I see that I am not lonely in this sentiment, because my e-book edition had more highlights than last 10 books I read together. And consider that the book was out only few days when I have read it... This will be one of the top books of this year.

The plot is pretty interesting, especially the main one. As the book was coming to close, I kept wondering how Lawrence will be able to resolve all the started threads, but I have to admit that he did it magnificently. This book and trilogy has just a great ending - it leaves just enough questions unanswered, but gives a decent resolution of the story. Jorg keeps pulling rabbits out of his hat, but rarely it feels like something forced - Lawrence makes him pretty believable and consistent. The pace if constantly intense and there is not time for leisure. There are just so many powerful and memorable scenes in the book.

A small objection could be raised that the identity of the main villain is revealed pretty early in the book. Not openly revealed, but there are enough clues to guess it almost at the start. But this doesn't hurt the story much. Also, the plotline dealing with events in Afrique belittles the events in "King of Thorns" a bit, revealing Jorg knew about future more than enough to fix a score...

Setting was vastly expended in KoT, compared to PoT, and in "Emperor of Thorns" it gets filled decently. As I said, enough questions are with no answers to keep us waiting for more, but there are no inconsistencies. When I started reading this series, I would never be able to guess how perfect blend of SF and fantasy it would turn out to be in the end.

Again, I have to repeat my opinion that "Emperor of Thorns" will be one of the top books of this year: thrilling plot, superb main character, with unique and gritty way of presenting the story. A big recommendation for this book and the trilogy to anybody who likes dark stories!

Book review: "The Sword of Shannara" by Terry Brooks

When I started buying books from Amazon (also, kudos for this), I checked Wikipedia and other resources for examples of epic fantasy, especially for longer series. In such way I found about "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan, "Malazan Book of the Fallen" by Steven Erikson, "Belgariad/Malloreon" by David Eddings, "The Rifttwar Saga" by Raymond E. Feist... There are many series, most of which I haven't still read, although for the most I have plan to read them eventually. Since I was self-restricted on one book per month, I had much spare time, so I would usually read detailed synopsis, sometimes even for the whole series. One of these was the whole "Shannara" series by Terry Brooks. This was one series that I didn't really like from what I read about it - it all smelled me too much of sucking money from the fans (something like Feist). Repetitive stories, jumping back in time, mixing it with urban fantasy... But the first few books sounded OK, and I found it mentioned a lot on blogs I follow, so when an e-book containing first three books of the series (the original "Shannara Trilogy") become available (for fair price, even) I decided to buy it. Even if it was bad, it would be an education experience - reading on of the classics of fantasy. This is my review of the first book, "The Sword of Shannara".

Since this is one of classics and it was written in seventies, the usual fantasy plot was somewhat expected. Two brothers, Shea and Flick, are living peaceful lives in Shady Vale. This is all interrupted when they are visited by Allanon, who they know only as wandering mystic, historian and philosopher. Allanon explains Shea, who was adopted in Ohmsford family, that he is a direct and only living descendant of ancient Elven King Jerle Shannara, and us such he is the only person in whole world capable of wielding his heritage, the Sword of Shannara. This is necessary because an old enemy of mankind, the Warlock Lord, is again on rise and is threatening to destroy all civilization. So Shae must journey to Paranor, old Druid Keep, to find the Sword and defeat the Warlock Lord. On his journey he is joined by his brother Flick, their friend Menion, and later by Balinor (Prince of old Human Kindgdom of Callahorn, dedicated to guarding the Human frontier), Handel (a Dwarf), and Durin and Dayel (two Elven nobles). And of course, Allanon, who is in fact the last Druid. On their journey they are opposed by Skull Bearers (black winged minions of Warlock Lord), Gnomes and Trolls.


If this reminds you to "The Lord of the Rings", this is because "Sword of Shannara" is pretty much blatant (and worse) copy of it. There is an escape from remote and peaceful valley without guidance, scary black pursuers with blood-freezing screams, a party composed of all free races... There is even a tentacle-monster living in a lake and a journey under a mountain. I know that many fantasy series found their inspiration in LotR (some would say even my beloved WoT), but not in this way and not this much. Later in the book things start moving off from Tolkien and start sounding original and interesting, but damage was already done at this point.


One good thing that Brooks does is in making a setting with interesting history, one that is connected to our present one. The bad side of it is that it is revealed in a big and obvious info-dump on the very beginning. It would be much more convincing if he had found some gradual way to reveal it. Also, there is very little sense of novelty in this book. Our heroes visit the villages of Dwarves and Gnomes, but we found almost nothing about them - like they are not different and they visit them every day. In fact, everything I know about the Gnomes in this book is that they are "yellowish" and "smaller than man" - almost nothing about their physical look, society, intelligence, habits... Similar for other races.


I usually refrain from second-guessing the characters, because this is the death of books (you know, why just they didn't kill Sauron or destroyed the Ring and saved themselves from troubles), but this book has so many problems that I just couldn't stop myself. Most of it sounds unconvincing and inconsistent. Shae founds out a complete reversal of everything he knew and believed, immediately accepts it and calmly proceeds with planning what next he will do. Handel is taciturn, moody, cheerful, grizzled, scared of basements (a racial trait of Dwarves!!!), brave, masterful tactician... I know people are complex, but not this much. All enemies are stupid, clumsy, gullible and incompetent - while our heroes are lucky, smart and dexterous. 


Then there are problems with Brook's writing. First, enemies are totally indistinctive - there is only two named enemies, one of the being the main big bad. Constant in-paragraph changes of POV are slightly irritating, especially at first. I couldn't make a mental picture of any characters - I couldn't even determine the age of Shae and Flick (somewhere between 16 and 36). Using contemporary expressions like "robotlike appearance" and "Spartanlike barracks" didn't help. My favorite was description of Hendel stalking on his "catlike feet" - a Dwarf with a "catlike feet"!!!


Tolkien received some objections for lack of strong female characters, but here there is absolutely no female characters in first half of book (except two (two!) mentions of Hendel's absent wife and Dayel's absent fiancée each). No one has wife, mother or daughter - especially not Gnomes, Trolls or Dwarves (there was some vague impression that Humans live in families, so I presume they include women). And when that one female character appear (her name is Shirl Ravenlock and she is a redhead Princess - I didn't know ravens are red) her only purpose is to be an object of love and something to protect for one of main characters. She actually says that her only wish is to support him (from away, I presume).


In conclusion, "The Sword of Shannara" is a terrible book, worse even than those by Terry Goodkind (if there wasn't Terry Pratchet, I would say that the name Terry was cursed). You know that feeling when you are read a good book and you just can't leave it without reading another page/paragraph/sentence. Well, I didn't felt in once while reading this book. What's worse, I am now stuck with reading the whole trilogy.

Book review: "Aristoi" by Walter Jon Williams

As I mentioned few times already, I used to read both fantasy and SF, especially throughout high-school and first years of college. But as I was closing to receiving my college degree, I also started working. Sick of rereading same books all the time (I've read first three books of aSoIaF more than 5 times, LotR more than 10, whole Vorkosian series couple maybe 5 times... You get the picture) and finally with some stable income, I decided to order books from Amazon, but I also realized that I have neither time nor money to indulge in books too much. So I restricted myself on buying one book monthly (mass market paperback, at first), with rereads the rest of time and anime in between. And I also oriented myself purely on fantasy, since I really like, and there was a shortage of fantasy books in Croatia. But since I bought Kindle, the price of books halved for me. Also, there was a shortage of anime that attract me for the last few seasons, so I don't have any big plans on that side. And additionally, currently there is only two unfinished series with published books out there, "Deepgate Codex" and "Shadows of the Apt", while all others are on waiting for next installment (WoT, aSoIaF, "The Kingkiller Chronicle", "The Stormlight Archive"...)...


After this lengthy introduction, let me get to the point, which is that I plan to occasionally indulge myself with some SF hits once in a while. First of such books was "Aristoi" by Walter Jon Williams. I found the first mention of it in a post by Jo Walton, on Tor.com blog. I usually (but not always) respect her opinion on books quite much, so I put it on my wis-hlist. And last week, while I was looking for what book to buy, I decided for it: less than 400 pages (I was looking for some quick read), a single work (didn't want to start a new series), and only 5$. Now, after finish it, I can only say that I fortified my decision to read SF occasionally.

"Aristoi" takes place in far future. After losing Earth in nano-technology induced accident, humanity has spread between the starts. They have AI, relatively safe nano-technology, Faster-Than-Light travel, perfect virtual reality and direct connection between mind and computer. They also conquered majority of diseases, live in largely free societies and don't lack much. And also very important, they reached a major advance in psychology by understanding and waking up hidden parts of their unconscious mind. All this progress is led by Aristoi. After successfully passing long and extensive exams, Aristos or Arista are given a solar system, and complete freedom in it (adhering to some common rules), with goal of benevolently ruling and advancing humanity in it (important to understand: common people can freely move to wherever they chose). So, in this blissful utopia we are introduced to Gabriel, moderately young Ariostos, talented, sensitive, especially oriented on architecture, art and design. One day, after having an unexpected and worrying conversation with not-particularly friendly Arista, he suddenly realizes that not everything is as certain as he believes - after this Arista dies in accident. Is this really and accident, or masterfully devised plot?


Let's first mention setting. I was looking for something leaning toward hard science fiction, but this was even better. Maybe some would say that "Aristoi" fundamentally is not hard-SF because it doesn't stress enough on how things work, but it has enough high-tech terms which sound plausible and believable to mask as one. For example, nano-technology: it is used, there are some brief mentions on technical details, and much on (realistic) dangers of it, but there are no extensive technical description of it. Or Hyperlogos (virtual reality/super-Internet): there is mention how it needs large (moon-large) data banks, some mentions of programming and algorithms but that's it. But every mentioned technology (including psychology) was consistent and believable - and impressive and though-provoking.


So, instead on exhaustive descriptions of setting (which is nonetheless), this book instead concentrates on plot and characters. It is thriller SF, I would say (hidden plot, investigation, trial...), but I changes to quasi-fantasy adventure in one part. This was the only turn-down of this book for me - not that it was boring or weak, but I expected something grander (epic) from it. It does have some clever and funny tricks. Plot is a bit predictable, although not much - it stays intriguing and interesting, but it lets you feel smart when you guess some detail in advance. There is a lot of humor, some sex, some art... a pleasant mix, all considered.  I must confess that I didn't like first few pages, until all clicked in its place and things got going.


Gabriel is clearly main character and we follow everything from his point of view, except some encyclopedic passages. He is a very complex and realized characters - and our view of him changes throughout the book. At first, he is very impressing person, fully in control of himself and his surroundings. But as the plot progress, we realize that all this self-confidence is only in his head and he looks quite naive. An in the end.... well, let's just say that he is not so tough any more, but he gets even more impressive despite of it. Other characters are not so deep, and some even few more like symbols than real characters. But this is OK, our focus is on Gabriel, after all. 

A quick thought: I just realized that this book reminds me much to Zelazny's "Lord of Light". It has a combination of high technology with religion, war between advanced humans that to non-advanced people look like fight between gods, air of mystery, influence by East...

In the end, I was very satisfied after reading "Aristoi" - it was a great read, interesting, fun and full of new ideas. I did expect more epic story, but it was great nevertheless. I would recommend this book to everybody who doesn't have aversion to science-fiction.

Movie review: "The Hunger Games"

Last weekend my girlfriend and I had some plans going with another couple to movies. This friend was very hyped-up about "The Wrath of Titans" so we wanted to satisfy his wish and we complied with this choice. But when he called to say he can't go, we changed our plans and went to "The Hunger Games" instead.

This movie is not so familiar to general audience, at least here in Croatia, but I knew much because Tor.com put much attention on it. So I knew the plot in general, even few names and about the romance part, some background. Anyway, it sounded OK; except few reviews that branded it as "a new Twilight". While I don't hold any grudge toward "Twilight" series, I watched only movies and didn't find them very good. So these comparisons made be a bit suspicious toward this movie, but in the end this fear proved unnecessary.

"The Hunger Games" have quite good plot. It's SF dystopia. Some time ahead, USA ended in civil war which resulted in new oppression: the Capitol and 12 district. The capital is place of high-technology, easy living and full colors - people there live like nobility. Other districts are each poorer than previous, with District 12 being the poorest, a place of miners and poor villagers. There lives a girl in her teens, Katniss Everdeen. Every year, a festivity called the Hunger Games is held, where two people from each district, a boy and a girl, are chosen to fight to death. After Katniss' younger sister end elected, Katniss volunteers herself to replace her, alongside Peeta, who is chosen for male representative. The two of them then travel to Capitol to prepare for the fight of their lives.

Well, since this is a young adult film, you can pretty much guess the ending. But even so, this movie has enough qualities and twist to make its 2 and a half hours pass faster than expected. The dystopian part of the movie is done quite well. A bit exaggerated from the District 12 side, but it strongly expresses the difference between the classes. In district, everything is gloomy, dirty and quite, while the Capitol is full of colors, laughter and lights.

The training part was longer than I expected it to be, but this is not an objection. They used it to explain the setting in more details and they did a good job. Nothing was obviously wrong or unbelievable. I even got a wish to read the books ("The Hunger Games" trilogy) to learn more, although I don't see where I would found the time for it. And when fighting part started, it was constantly tense and full of action. Few possible ending were hinted, so you could not be sure what the final conclusion would be.

At acting part was done quite well, except one over-cried scene. There are even few stars: Woody Harrelson,   Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci and Lenny Kravitz. Interestingly, and I don't know whether this was intentional or not, when they put Woody Harrelson and Josh Hutcherson (plays Peeta) together first time, they had the same facial expressions that I was positive they are father and son.

I was quite interested to see how will they be able to make a main character, who is a gentle and obviously good teen girl, kill somebody without making her look bad. More so, kill somebody with such a violent weapon as bow. Although I think that their solution was at least partly a dirty trick, it was nevertheless done cleverly.

For conclusion, I can say that "The Hunger Games" were a positive surprise. An interesting and fast movie for all kind of audiences, with enough small details to interest those with higher expectations. Also, bear in mind that this is only first part in probable trilogy.

Anime review: "Steins Gate"

I noticed "Steins Gate" several times while searching for anime I could watch, but I didn't like the the fact that it was adapted from dating-sim, and I thought the premise too goofy (something about micro-wave and time-machines). Also, I wrongly understood that there was no overall story, but that it was episodic anime. But few weeks ago I didn't have anything else to watch and somewhere on AnimeNewsNetwork read something about "Steins Gate being the best anime of the season", so I decided to give it a try after all. And it was bingo!

Main character, one Okabe Rintarou, is an idiot, plainly said. He is an almost grown man, constantly wearing a lab-coat and hangs in some room he calls his laboratory with two his friends (male hacker Daru and female childhood friend Mayuri) where they "invent" useless and usually not-working gadgets. More so, he calls himself Houin Kyoma, a mad scientist and next evil overlord. When he is in public, he constantly talks to his turned-off mobile phone, pretending he is chased by some Organization and fantasying improbable scenarios. But what happens when one of his crazy theories turns out to be the truth, and a fixed-up microwave in their apartment is really a time-machine?

"Steins Gate" starts quite slow and nothing much happens in first couple of episodes, but after that it turns in one of the best time-travelling works I ever watched. Sure, if you are a moderate science-fan, you will be able to find holes and inconsistencies in their theories. But if you are able to go with the flow, you will find this a great anime about consequences implications of time travel. I really liked how they used modern and popular references, like CERN and LHC. What differentiates this anime from similar is that they really explore the implications of time traveling, not just as a instrument of plot, but from psychological and philosophical side - what happens to time-lines he travels from, how many times can someone watch the same bad thing happens, how lonely is to meet persons again and again when they have no recollections of you, and so on. This is a kind of animated mix of "Groundhog Day" and "Conspiracy Theory"

Story is quite good, fast and it changes several times. After initial slow start, you get several fun episodes where they discover abilities of their time-machine and here start the twists. Surprisingly, episodes after 10th become quite dark and serious, not something what I would expect at the start. My worst part of the anime was three or four episodes toward the end (where Okabe has to cancel the effects of his actions) - they are too much like dating-sim and not much happens. But ending itself, two last episodes, is simply great.

Of course, all characters are good, but Okabe is quite something. You just have to love his way of speaking - pretentious rambling, making up funny names for others (and usually guessing the right spot), his "mad scientist" laugh... On the other hand, during the course of anime he proves himself surprisingly grown up, serious and caring. But fear not, he doesn't lose his goofiness. He is the primary generator of humor and are quite many funny scenes. Most of the other characters (except Daru and one other guy) are of course young girls - this was made after dating-sim after all. They are not so much developed as Okabe and they are typical characters you would expect from such anime, but this doesn't mean they are bad - on the contrary.

Visual side of the anime is good, but nothing impressive. I did like the voices of characters, especially Okabe's.

In the end, I just want to say that you must not think less of "Steins Gate" for being adapted from dating-sim - it is one full-blooded seinen anime, with great plot and character development, suitable for anybody. Consider it especially if you like harder sci-fi.

Movie review: "Priest"

Yesterday I watched "Priest" over my friend's house. I haven't even heard about this movie before, so I didn't know what to expect.

It turned out that "Priest" is apocalyptic action western about vampires. After the movie it was revealed that it is based on Korean comic-book. Beginning of the movie, where they reveal the setting is quite good. It is an alternative future, where after centuries of war between humans and vampires, humans got the upper hands. All thanks to Priests, super-human-ninja clerical warriors. But now, last vampires are put into reservations and Priests are neglected, scorned by both Church that disbanded them and by society they don't fit in. Not that humanity is in some great shape. They are living in poverty in few last mega-cities, brain-washed by Church. Technology is similar to steam-punk: there are high-level computers and transparent displays, but on the other hand people still manually filling furnaces and using lamp-oils. The western part is presented by the Wastelands, where people live as first settlers and order is watched by serifs having old style guns. Instead the horses, they use motorcycles. Although this list sound stupid put on one place, it actually works very well in the movie.

Plot is starting when a young girl Lucy gets abducted by a pack of vampires, even though there shouldn't be any more of them in the while. Serif she was having a relationship finds her uncle, Priest, and two of them will go out to search for her, contrary to orders of Church. What they will find in the Wasteland is something nobody believed is possible.

Plot itself is not bad, but the realization of it is. Movie places too much in impossible actions scenes. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-like impossible. Cutting bullets in half with throwing knives, flying/jumping and so on. Also, the last fight and resolution is totally naive and unbelievable. Too bad, because I really liked the first half of the movie.

Interesting how vampires are presented here. They are far from Ann Rice's Lestat or Twilight's Edward. Here they are something between wolves and aliens from the "Alien". They move on four foot, jump and run as wolves; they don't have eyes, have really big and slimy snouts and teeth and they excrete some sticky-looking glue they use to build their hives. And they are almost mindless. Something like zombies from "I am Legend".

There is also a 3D version of the movie, but I didn't watch it. Visuals are quite good. Paul Bettany plays Priest; rest of the cast is mainly unimportant.

One more thing: there is a large probability of sequel. The ending practically spells it, but I think it depends on the success the movie makes in cinema.

So, "Priest" is a not so good action movie with quite interesting setting. It is not something I would really recommend, but if you end watching it you will not be terribly disappointed. Even though I found the plot weak, I will probably watch the sequel if it ever comes out, but just for the setting.

Manga review: "Blame!"

I first noticed "Blame!" while reading "Right Turn Only!!" on AnimeNewsNetwork. It was described as hard SF manga and it ways "Reader's Choice" (don't know real significance, but stands for some kind of recommendation). When I confirmed it is not still coming out (because I already have too much ongoing manga on schedule) I decided to read it. It turned out as a great choice.

"Blame!" is a hard SF manga by Nihei Tsutomu. For me, hard SF imply that work's (be it movie, book or anything else) primary and most characteristic is science fiction, and that it wouldn't be the same with it. For example, Miles Vorkosigan series is set in science fiction setting, but it is primary detective/thriller action; you could change the setting and still have the same feeling. On the other hand, "Eon" by Greg Bear is primary SF, although it has elements of other genders. Manga is a bit bad medium for hard science fiction because it lacks the space for explaining the science and technology, but "Blame!" nevertheless has this feeling. Funny, I am already contradicting myself: "Blame!" could work in another setting, a fantasy one. But as Arthur C. Clarke used to say: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"...

The motto of this mange is "Adventure-seeker Killy in the Cyber Dungeon". Wikipedia also regards this as a cyberpunk manga, although to me it doesn't have the cyberpunk feeling I know from "Neuromancer" or "Snow Crash". I wouldn't go deep into the plot, especially since there is not much of it. Main character Killy is wondering trough mega-structure The City searching for people with terminal net genes. Problem is that there are not much people; most of them are dead from conflicts with hostile cyborgs and AIs or malfunctioning safety services, so most of his search consists of fighting them.

Things sometimes get very confusing, so I can't say that I really understood 100% of this manga. I think I would need at least one reread to get it completely. First two volumes are especially hard to understand, but when you start with third one, you will already be hooked up. The manga has 10 volumes.

Setting is really great. I am a sucker for mega-structures. Imagine this: you have a incredible large room you can't even see walls; there is 13 of them inside one structure; this structure is just a small part of one level; there are some 10 levels (I can't remember if it was particularly said how much there is levels)! The City if mostly empty, but there are still great numbers of peoples. Trans-humans, cyborgs, robots, crazy AI's, people reduced to animals...

There are not many characters. Main one is Killy, who doesn't talk much, but doesn't hesitate to fight. Scientist Cibo become his partner after he saves her from death. She is much more talkative and gives the most of explanations (not that they are always understandable). Except two of them, there are not many characters that last for more than one or two volumes.

I found ending especially well, although it stays both unexplained and unresolved.

For conclusion, "Blame!" is a very good SF manga, but I don't think it's for everybody. Often confusing, slow paced and lots of tech-speech makes it unsuitable for people who expect a light read, but if you like SF for itself, you will probably like "Blame!".

Movie review: "Exam"

This Sunday I have watched "Exam". I've been planning to watch this movie for some time now, ever since I heard that it takes place in one room and that many people recommended it. I mean, it has to be a good movie to get props with all the action taking place... at one place. It turned out it is.

The movie starts with eight people coming to a room to take a final exam for a highly sought place in some mysterious company. We don't know anything about the people, the job or the company. After getting some very specific and very strange instructions, examinees are left to answer a single question in span of 80 minutes. The problems start when they discover that question is hidden and they first have to find it.

This movie is a puzzle, for audience as much as characters. You are challenged (not directly, but even so) to solve the mystery before them. Even if you fail, you will have fun guessing and second-guessing before being handed the final solution. We have a slight advantage, because at beginning of the movie we are shown some minor clues. Best way to describe this movie in few words would be "Saw, but without the blood". That is not to say that there is no violence in this movie, just not so graphical.

As I said, at the beginning to the movie you don't know anything about the job or the company. You are also let believe that the movie is happening in present. Later you find out that it actually describes a recent future, slightly dystopian. Even though you receive only few details, you get an impression of well imagined and developed background. Cast is practically unknown, but they did a very good job. As for characters, they are very interesting and diverse. You don't even get their names, instead using a "Reservoir Dogs" trick giving them color-names.

After watching the movie, you can find many objections to the story and solution, but nevertheless you don't feel cheated at the end, which is very important. During the watching you will probably be too focused to notice any flaws.

Although some will not like the realization (eight people, one room), "Exam" is a very good movie for those who like puzzles and movies that make the think and try to compete with the characters in reaching the solution.

Movie review: "V for Vendetta"

Few weeks ago I decided to watch some of the "older" movies (up to ten years old) that I missed. There are lots of them, so I am currently using IMDB USA box-office archive. This week I watched "V for Vendetta". I didn't know much about the movie prior to watching it. I know it was an adaptation of comic and that main character wears some crazy mask (I checked Wikipedia, they say it is Guy Fawkes' mask; I presume that scene at the beginning of the movie depicts Fawkes' dramatized "execution"). I believed this movie would be about French revolution or something like that.

But, it turns out this is actually contemporary, alternate-history SF-ish movie. It lasts two hours and it really has a lot of plot in it. First part of the movie is confusing and intriguing at the same time. It takes some time to start rolling. We first meet Evey, while she wanders through some streets after curfew. She almost gets raped by some under-cover policemen, but in the last moment she gets saved by a guy in black, wearing (my first association) a musketeer's mask and wielding swords and knives. Man introduces himself as "V" and in flourishing language invites her to watch a musical performance with her. It turns out that this "performance" is actually bombing of British parliament. This starts V's terrorist activity against fascist and repressing British government.

There are three things that are great in this movie. First, the world-building. It is near future England and it is very dystopian. After some nuclear war that USA was involved with, England isolated itself from rest of the world, lead by charismatic and autocratic leader Adam Sutler. Regime is very racist and homophobic; government strictly controls media (especially television, where Evey works) and secret police is almost almighty. Worst thing about it is that people have grown with this situation and they consider it normal. That is the ultimate goal of V's anarchism: changing people conscience about them.

Second is the plot. For a comic-book adaptation, plot is marvelous and quite believable. V almost doesn't have any special powers nor is he some genius. Plot is very surprising, shown from multiple POVs and it is never boring. There are many funny scenes, especially at the beginning. But the movie overall is very somber. I especially liked the ending; it was very emotional and epic, on more than one level.

Third, the characters. Three main characters are V, Evey and Finch, the police inspector on V's case. During the movie, we know almost nothing about V. We find out a bit about his history, but we never really get to know him, his motivations and such. But we instinctively know he is the good guy. A bit twisted guy, especially shown in his relationship with Evey, but good guy nevertheless. Definitely very interesting character; especially the fact that he never, ever shows his face! Evey has some very traumatic experiences and she does a lot of growing up. In some aspects, she is the actual protagonist of the story. Inspector Finch is also a good guy, albeit on the bad side. We follow him as he realizes that, while unsuccessfully trying to stop V. Rest of the cast is also done very well.

Interestingly, I think this is the rare case where the adopted material is better than the original. I cannot be sure, of course, because I haven't read the original comic-book, but I've read a synopsis of it and it looks much more flamboyant than the movie.

Just to mention, movie has almost none special effects; it counts more on the inner quality then the visuals (even though the production is not bad in any aspect). And I mean this as a compliment.

"V for Vendetta" is a great movie. A combination of SF, thriller and drama, it asks for concentrated audience. But my opinion is that the movie is worth of it. Definitely a recommendation!

"Towers of Midnight" frenzy

As "Towers of Midnight" release date is getting closer, I am getting more excited.

My main problem now is that I wanted to reread last three books before attacking ToM. But I have encountered a problem. I don't order books directly from Amazon, but from local bookstore: it's cheaper, because I don't have to pay for delivery. But since they order books once a month, I'm not sure when will I receive it. I presume it will some three or four weeks after original release date. So now, I don't know when to start with this reread. If I start too soon, I will then only go excited and the waiting will be more unbearable. But if I wait too much, I will get the book and not be finished with the reared.... Big problems, you think? (jokingly)

My excitement was increased few days ago when I found this: a whole chapter 8 from ToM, featuring Mat. And it's great!

Is there no more Karsa?

Lately the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series is often on my mind.

(source)

First reason is "Malazan Reread of the Fallen" on Tor.com. I've been expecting in for a while and now that it's here, it's even better than I expected. In my opinion, main reason of its popularity (the reread, not the series) is because Amanda, one of rereaders, is actually reading it for the first time. It's very, very funny (and little mean) to watch her stumble and try to foresee what's coming next. This is impossible, of course. It reminds me on my own experience when I started reading MBoF. For the record, I actually read the second book, "Deadhouse Gates" before "Gardens of the Moon". Also, it feels very good to be reminded how these books are good.

Second reason is that blurb of "The Crippled God" I found here. I think I will like the last book very much!

Anyway, I was thinking about these books (while showering) and how I can't wait to find out what happened after "Dust of Dreams" when I realized that there was no mention of Karsa for long time. Not just him, Kruppe and the rest. Since "Toll the Hounds", if I'm correct. And blurb mentions only characters and plots from "Dust of Dreams". So, what if Karsa has actually done his parts in these books? Maybe Erikson plans to write a new series, featuring Karsa and later events? I think he said he doesn't plan to stop writing books in these setting after finishing this sequence, but I can't find where I read this. From one side, I would like this series to continue, or its successor to start. On the other side, I'm afraid that it would be bad compared to the original.

In any case, these are just my speculations. We will see in few years was I right.

An anime review: XXXHOLIC: Rou

source: AniDB.net

I am not really a fan of CLAMP and their works, but I liked "Code Geass" anime and "XXXHOLIC" franchise. "Tsubasa Chronicles" I think it's OK, but I don't think much of it. So, if you didn't watch previous "XXXHolic" anime, watch the first one and continue with rest if you like it. If you watched it, then continue to the review of latest anime installment, "XXXHOLIC: Rou"...

Eden of the East: The King of Eden - anime review

I have watched first movie in the "Eden of the East" series. It picks the story some six months after the anime.

Again, it is a strange, but captivating mix of secret-societies, high-tech thriller and cute romance comedy. This time story focuses mostly on Saki and not on Takizawa, who is mostly a goal here. Also, it brings other "Selcao" to the forth.

Unfortunately, things don't work in form of a movie. This is actually a three or four anime episodes glued together in one 82 minutes film. It would have been much better to make all episodes and then screen it normally.

This is a must for all who liked the original series, but be prepared to be angry at producers after watching it. As for the rest of you, definitely watch the original!

As of my next project, I plan to read "Shigurui" manga.

20th & 21st Century Boys - manga review

In the past week, I have read the "20th Century Boys" manga. The last chapter I left for Saturday morning and I planned to write a review of it right after reading it, but then I found that I was gravely mistaken. I was aware of the existence of the "21st Century Boys" manga, but I thought of it as some kind of a spin-off of the original manga. That is not true: it contains last two chapters of the original manga, but for some reason it's serialized under a different name. Interesting, this manga doesn't have an anime serialization yet. So it is also a first manga that I have read without watching the anime version first.

When I started reading it, it reminded me of two things: "Monster" and Stephen King. I checked it later, it is written by the same mangaka that did the "Monster" manga: Urasawa Naoki. It is similar to "Monster" in many things: it is a mystery manga where you know the "enemy" from the beginning, but as you watch, you realize that you actually understand much less then you think. As the "Monster", it has a great number of characters, many plot twists, almost super-human bad-guy(s), good guys mistaken for criminals...

Story follows Endou Kenji and his elementary-school friends, who are, at the beginning, mostly boring adults. But, suddenly, a stream of mysterious events starts in his town: missing of a whole family, suicide of Kenji's old friend, disappearance of his older sister... All this is somehow connected to a mysterious religious cult, revolving around an unknown leader called "Friend". And it looks like "Friend" is someone from Kenji's past...

Now semblance to Stepehen King comes to play; first part of the manga reminded me of his novel "It". As in there, story simultaneously follows a group of adults and their younger versions, gradually revealing how the past influences the present. The past time-line shows kids in usual children adventures: building a secret base, visiting the ghost-house, driving bike during summer... And present time-line shows adults panicky struggling against events that were started when they were just kids. As I said, this is just first part (maybe first quarter) of manga. Later, it comes closer to the near-future dystopia. It's hard to review it without revealing any spoilers, but story involves religious cults, corrupted police, Pope, repressing government, biological warfare, mafia... It's a big mix, but it doesn't give impression of random plot elements mixed together without any coherence: here you get bits and pieces of later events from the start. You can see that it was done with some plan in mind from the beginning.

Now, some things I didn't like. First, "Monster" was a "Xanatos Gambit", meaning that main villain is a master strategist, capable of making such plans, that even if things don't go by his plans, they nevertheless lead to his eventual victory, because he has backup plans. And backup-backup plans. And backup-backup-backup plans (you get my meaning)... This series is more a "Xanatos Roulette": a line of events that were planned by villain in such minuscule details that you get impression that he must have "known the script" or had some prophetical abilities. For better explanation of "Xanatos Gambit and Roulette" check provided links for tvtropes.org.

Second, here some characters actually rely on paranormal abilities: we have a prophet and few ESPers. Although Johan from the "Monster" sometimes looks like he is really a super-human, he is just a very convincing person (so much that he is able to convince you to commit suicide). However, in the "20th Century Boys", some characters really are super-humans (not too super, but nevertheless). I didn't mind it very much in this series, more so because these abilities are not completely reliable, but it would be much better without them.

And third... I really liked first (Stephen King-like) part of the manga. And I liked the last chapters. But middle part was a bit inflated, though. I understand: It was necessary to show how the villains are much stronger that the good guys, to introduce us to the new characters and make us feel sorry for them, but it could have been shorter. Ending was good; however it left some things unexplained.

Characters are good, complex and convincing. Some of them are based on too stereotypical ideas (the kick-ass monk, the wandering musician, the sociopath cult follower...), but their motivations and history are explained quite well, so it's not a problem to believe in them. Good guys are well done; they have their own problems, fears and insecurities.

Plot is probably a best side of this manga: it is captivating and believable. There are many twists and you are not sure of many things until the end; but this is a mystery series, so this is how it should be. Although, things could have been brought to end faster if characters had more will for some cooperation between them....

I'm not a right person to judge about visuals, but I don't have any objections to this manga from that side. Characters all look normal, without some exaggerations. Backgrounds, architecture and objects look good, but you will probably not read this manga just for its looks.

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To summarize: this is a seinen mystery series, lengthy and not for a casual reading. The strong points of it are plot and characters; while reading you will be interested and excited enough to ask few more chapters... But, in the end, I found it a inferior work compared to the "Monster", a similar manga of same author. So, if you haven't read either, read "Monster" first. Then, if you liked it, read this too. Also, for all you who liked "Monster", you will like this series, too.

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For my next object of interest, I will be reading "The Many Deaths of the Black Company".

Eve no Jikan - anime review

This is anime that I watched in last two or three days. It was streamed on Web, and has 5 short episodes lasting 15 minutes and one longer, 27 minutes. I liked this, because it allowed me to watch it when it wouldn't be able with full, 25-minutes-per-episode, anime. Like before sleep: I usually get sleepy shortly after I got in bed, so there were times when I missed last 5 or 10 minutes of episode because I was napping already.

"Eve no Jikan" describe a time in future (unspecified, but not too far away for our time; let say 10-30 years) when use of androids is becoming common. It deals with topic of how humans thinks of them: older/rational people regard them as another house appliance, while some think of them as regular persons or use them as substitute for living people.

Rikuo is a teen boy who acts awkward to his house-hold android; in first episode, he and his friend Masaki wander (after seeing its name into android's movement log) into a cafe where customers don't make distinction between humans and androids. In fact, we don't know who are which and we learn it in course of series.

This short anime has a lot going on: an organization that fight against seeing androids as humans; a mysterious woman who supports this interaction; unsolved "accidents"... It leaves a lot unexplained, so there is place for prequels/sequels. I actually found out that there is an anime with same setting: "Mizu no Kotoba". And I'm sure that this topic was already addressed in score of other series. There is no action here, just talking and learning new things. Although, it's definetely not boring.

First, I presume, that if you stretch it, this anime teach us how we should act humanly to everybody else, no matter how different from us, because they also have emotions (although, in this case, public is mostly unaware of android's new features). Secondly, it left me wondering how would I act toward a intelligent, speaking android. I would like to think that I would at least be civil (which is much more that some people in series), but is that just a wishful thinking? I'm a SF-optimist (check this) so I hope I will be in opportunity to find it out - even if I have to wait few hundred years for it...

From technical side, everything good: nice design, good colors and SFX. A lot was put in details (I noticed it few times, but I forgot the specifics).

Final verdict: a very nice anime, especially for SF-fans (at least, for those who like some deeper stuff). Even if you don't especially appreciate SF, you will not lose anything if you watch this, and most certainly not time. A recommendation.

I think that my next object of interest will be "Nodame Cantabile - Finale".