Anime review: "Sakamichi no Apollon"

"Sakamichi no Apollon" (or "Kids on the Slope") won several awards last year and it is a josei, so it was given that I would watch it sooner or later. It turned out it was later.

"Sakamichi no Apollon" tells the coming-of-age story of three friends: Kaour (Bon), a rich boy with no friends, due to his often transfers and movings; Sentarou (Sen), a troublemaker who often misses school; and Ritsuko (Richan), Sen's childhood friend whose father owns a music store. For some unknown reason, Sen takes liking on Bon and the two of them start hanging out at Richan's place, playing jazz sessions. Because actually, Sen is a passionate drummer, while Bon learned piano since childhood. The three of them live through first loves, occasional fights and jazz music.

This is a pretty short anime, with only 13 episodes, so there is no long story like in "Nana" or "Hachimitsu to Clover". But on the other side, plot sometimes skip months and in such way covers really much time. In the end, it covers their whole high-school. It made me surprised several times, like with that early confession - I didn't really expect it so soon. The beginning was also good and got me hooked immediately: light, with no real subject, but hinting at drama and future topic.

The anime covers an unusual epoch - the 50s in Japan. This is the first time I watched anime covering this period of time. There is an interesting sub-story of Jun'ichi and Jurika, including political activism, student riots and Japan's after War history. Music is an important part of this anime, but not the main topic - character's relationships are what this really is about.

It is really a coming-of-age anime and it has some good drama. Not the usual awkward moments you would expect: Bon always says wrong things instead what he really wants, but it is so with most people. Anime doesn't go in making extreme emotional reactions, but goes lightly about it.

The ending was very surprising. Josei anime usually have some kind of bitter-sweet ending, but this really took me by surprise.

The animation and design is good, but not something extraordinary. Voice acting was very good, though. I don't like jazz usually, but even I was able to enjoy the music here.

"Sakamichi no Apollon" is a short but very good josei anime. Not among the best of genre, but with good and likable characters, fast story and some really nice drama. A good anime for everybody who likes josei.

Anime review: "Hyouka"

Few weeks ago AnimeReactor Community Awards were finally out. Most of the anime I watch I find and pick by myself, but I always check this yearly selection in case I miss some (I usually do). For last year, "Hyouka" won in three categories: Character Development, Male Lead and Slice-of-Life. I noticed "Hyouka" before, but I looked like a typical school comedy, probably based on some dating-sim or video-game, so I decided to skip it. But winning three categories made me change my mind, especially in these few weeks without any expected anime out.

"Hyouka" had a pretty uninformative and general description. Oreki Hotarou has just entered high-school. He is almost typical boy, except for his philosophy - he is an "energy-saving boy" and his motto is: "If I don't have to do something, I won't, but if I have to, I'll do it quickly.". Meaning, he avoid any unnecessary effort and obligation, even though he is not lazy. According to his life-style, he would avoid joining any high-school clubs, because it would ask for additional effort, but he is forced by his older sister to join Classic Literature Club. There he meets Chitanda Eru, also from his year, who is a very curious and dynamic girl - his complete opposite. Later they are joined by Fukube Satoshi, Oreki's best-friend, and Ibara Mayaka, a friend from their junior-high school.

Plot of "Hyouka" stems from Chitanda's curiosity (her phrase is "I can't stop thinking about it") and Oreki's uncanny ability to connect seemingly uncorrelated facts into a theory or explanation. It turns out that Oreki is a natural born detective - when he can be coerced to leave his usual low-energy state. There is no overall plot in this anime, only a bunch of standalone episodes and three mini-arcs made of two or three episode. At the beginning, I was wondering why this anime got an award in Slice-of-Life category when it was clearly a detective anime, but toward end focus shifts more to characters and their daily life than to plot.

Also, a word of advice. This anime has a pretty slow introduction, so give it some time to really start. It you like it when it reaches Seikitani Jun arc, things go only better from that point on.

From my description, you probably understand that I liked this anime, although it doesn't sound like anything extraordinary. And this is true, this anime is not extraordinary - but it is very, very good in every aspect. There is no big story here, but each episode and few arcs are very interesting, even if you don't like detective stories (I don't, really). Characters don't stand out, especially at the beginning, but they grow more complex and life-like whole time during this show. Animation and design also don't look anything special at first glance, but as you watch it, you will realize that a major effort is put in details and that everything fits right. There is also some romance, some comedy and much of light humor. Looking back now, this anime is like normalized (in sense that both high and low extremes are flatted out) "Haruhi Suzumiya" show. And I think that fans of it will also like "Hyouka". Despite slow and unimpressive start, this show ends as one really good anime.

The show doesn't have many characters. Except four main, there are only some recurring supporting characters, but they are all made good. Again, I stress that this anime really deservedly won first place in Character Development category (as both jury and community pick). This is most evident in Oreki, who quite grows in self-confidence and gradually changes his life-style.

There are some unexpected quirks in this anime. First, you rarely see a minor getting drunk in anime (even when it is accidentally). Secondly, it is not common that boy is attracted to girl only psychically (at least at first), except in ecchi anime. It usually involves unrealistic romance (e.g. Harima and Tenma from "School Rumble").

The show has 22 episodes, and there is one OVA which is actually a normal standalone episode. As I said, visually anime doesn't look much, but quality is actually pretty high and it stays that way whole time. There is really much care put into details: clothes, furniture, surroundings... It is obvious that anime had pretty good production.

All in all, even not extraordinary, "Hyouka" is quietly great anime and I would recommend it to anybody who doesn't require action from anime their watch. It is interesting, sometimes mysterious, lively and fun all the way.

Anime review: "Hyouge Mono"

I don't really remember how or when it started, but I know that I have been eagerly waiting for this show to be subbed for months, maybe even more than a year. I always had a liking for historical-based items (be it books, movies or anime) and "Hyouge Mono" looked like one. On the other hand, I had some similar expectations from "Sengoku Basara" (which disappointed me very, very much) and even more so from "Souten Kouro" (which took a completely different direction than I expected). But "Hyouge Mono" fitted those expectations perfectly: a complex and deeply historical anime with a bunch of characters and realistic details.

"Hyouge Mono" is set on the eve of Sengoku period in Japan, starting somewhere in last years of rule of Oda Nobunaga. In the anime we follow the important events in Japan's history for next ten years, including the wars, politics and cultural life. This is seen primary from the eyes of Furuta Sasuke, who starts as a lowly vassal to Oda Nobunaga. What differentiates Furuta from bunch of other warriors and vassals is that he is actually more of an aesthete than a warrior. But to enjoy life of an aesthete, one needs to have money. Luckily for him, aesthetes, especially those interested in the way of tea, are on the rise in this time...

Sengoku period is a very turbulent time for Japan, a time of constant warring before final unification of Japan. Of course, such times gave rise to many popular warriors and leaders, like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu (to name the most prominent). And as such, it is a ripe pool of ideas for anime.

There are several obvious and important aspects that make this anime different from your usual one. First one is that Furuta is in no way the main character - the show doesn't actually have one. Furuta is only the means through which we follow the events, plot and other characters. He is not even an important man, especially at the beginning of the show, and he has to bend toward the will of others. In the end, he is just a conveniently placed close to important people with small influence on the events. This is a somewhat common occurrence in books (let's only mention Guy Gavriel Kay, who use it all the time), but I don't remember seeing it in anime much (maybe in few josei anime). Actually, there is even less focus of Furuta in later parts of anime.

Secondly, it cannot be said that this anime has a plot in classical sense. We are suddenly immersed in an ongoing world full of events, we follow it for some time (10 years and 39 episodes) and then we leave it without the feel on conclusion you have when some show is finished. At one time, somewhere around 25th episode, I have made a note "totally don't know where the plot is going", because I expected first part to be the introduction and second the real revelation of the story, but I was wrong.

And third, the biggest difference is the level of historical accuracy and details. In my 200+ anime that I have watched, I don't remember ever watching such anime. I can't say that I am a student of Japanese history, since most that I know about it came from common knowledge, anime, Wikipedia and articles on Internet and magazines. There is even a warning at the start of every episode that this is a work of fiction. But on the other hand, every character, important event and even things and concepts can be found on Wikipedia or other online encyclopedia. Yes, a lots of events, or better said, reasons behind events are made more dramatic or romantic (not in sense of love), but nevertheless, the amount of accurate historical details is astounding. Interesting, characters even speak with slightly archaic speech, and subtitles that I had reflected that.

Of course, the theme of anime is strange also: the Japanese tea ceremony. I never encountered this before, and I thought it to be completely fabricated. I was very surprised when I went to Wikipedia and found out that it isn't. This gives the anime a somewhat slow and serious, but at the same time funny aspect. Furuta's tea-obsession looks ridiculous from our perspective, but I see it was a serious business at the time. There is a lot of details about tea ceremonies and talk about elegance and aesthetics. If there is a message that this anime wants to convey, then it is something like: "Always do your best in everything, but never fret about it - be elegant and relaxed". This is evident for Furuta's character that is, as I said, obsessed, pretentious and overeager to become famous as aesthete, even contrary to his sincere liking of the way of tea. Later he grows much and becomes more relaxed and enjoys the tea and beauty for itself.

This brings us to another topic: characters. There is really a bunch of them and it takes time to become familiar with them (especially since lot of them change - this is war, after all). It helps if you are familiar with the Sengoku period. They change appearance, clothes, hairstyles. But more important, they really change during the anime. Furuta, Rikyu, Hashiba - at the end, they are very different people from those who they were when we met them. I even like them more in the second part of the show, when they are more mature and relaxed...

Even though "Hyouge Mono" is a serious and historical anime, there is really a lot of humor. A lots of it steam from Furuta's obsession for art pieces, and the faces he makes (I was delightful to see that Troll-face in episode 16, during the shrimp-mongering dance). Also, it is funny when someone pricks his bubble of self-importance. But it is interesting that there is some humor that is not intended toward viewer (so that we laugh at characters), but it is more the humor between the characters so the viewer can laugh with them (like when Furuta steals the tea-jar lid). On the other hand, it is easily to forget that this funny little man is actually a warrior and veteran but we are reminded of that on few occasions.

The ending was really something. It was a slow rise during few episodes to a glorious culmination - a powerful and emotional ending. It was delighted to see that mange that anime is based upon is still ongoing - which means I can hope for eventual sequel.

I was a bit disappointed by Date Masamune's appearance and mannerism, who looks like he escaped from "Sengoku Basara". On the other hand, he was very funny, and in the end did fit with the rest of characters.

Animation and colors in nothing over the top, but it is very good. Design of characters and care for details (I mention clothes and hairstyles) are on the other hand superb. As is the voice-acting.

It's been a long time since I gave some anime 10 on AniDB (I gave them all around when I was younger), but "Hyouge Mono" definitely deserves it: complex and detailed, historically based with realistic characters, no good guys, no main character, almost a slice-of-life in turbulent times - this really an unique seinen anime. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be deservedly appreciated because it will be too hard for majority of viewers. But if you consider yourself a fan of seinen or historical anime, give this a try.

Movie review: "Anna Karenina"

Yesterday I went to movies with my girlfriend to watch "Anna Karenina". It was originally her idea, but I didn't have anything against it.

Even though I was a passionate reader since I was ten, for some reason I (successfully) avoided most of high-school proscribed reading, including "Anna Karenina". I was vaguely familiar with the story, as much as I remembered from a book with short analysis of plot and characters for high-school books, but in general, I didn't know anything about the movie.

The story of "Anna Karenina" is a tragedy, revolving about three central characters in 19th century Russia. Karenin (played by Jude Law) is a high-positioned noble and politician, orthodox, strict but respected for his moral and ethical principles - but at the same time he is shown as cold and distanced, especially toward his family. Anna (Keira Knightley) is his wife, at the beginning of the movie displayed as happy with his marriage and especially their son, and loyal to her husband. She actually reprehends her cousin for being angry at her husband for cheating on her and manipulates her into forgiving him. But this changes after a chance encounter with young and dashing Count Vronsky - a pampered noble with eye for beauty, sweet tongue and flowery manners. An unexpected happens and these two unlikely people fall in love, and later to obsession, which damages their lives and especially Karenin family. There is also a secondary story, dealing with another young and shy noble Levin and his love toward Princess Kitty.

The story is good, but center of this movie is its characters, primary the central trio. As I expected from a renowned literary classic, characters are great and complex. The best notion for me is that no one is described as negative: all three are just people, with their personalities, caught in facts of life, love and passion. Though, I was surprised that at the end I was putting most blame on Anna - I don't know if this was intended by the movie-makers, or it was projected from my own beliefs and personality. I am even tempted to read the book to find out.

I liked the acting, even though I am not fan of Keira Knightley. But even more I liked the semi-breaking of the fifth wall: during the changes of scenes, characters are shown as traveling through theater sets; when important things are happening, supporting characters "freeze". I also liked the costumes and small details about Imperial Russia. The music was very good, even to me who usually don't notice such things.

All in all, I really enjoyed "Anna Karenina". If you don't like romances or dramas, avoid this movie. But for everybody else, the movie is never boring, has great and interesting characters and is very intense.

Movie review: "The Prestige"

I've been skipping on reviewing movies for some time now, partially because I don't have much time but also because I haven't seen any great movie. I watched "In Bruges" again (very good, although it was better the first time), "The Bourne Legacy" (good, but not inspired), "Prometheus" (great start, but not so good ending), "Ted" (not so good teenage comedy) and a lot more, but not one of them was really great.

Yesterday evening I watched a 2006 movie called "The Prestige". Curiously, I tried to watch this movie with my girlfriend few years ago, but we never finished it (I think there was some problem with the video). I watched maybe first half an hour and I didn't have any fond memories of it. But this friend of mine watched is few days ago and has been constantly talking how good it was. So yesterday I hanged out at his place and he offered to watch it again with me. I am very grateful to him because this was one of the best movies I watched in last several years!

I won't say much about the plot because I don't want to reveal any spoilers. "The Prestige" is not a movie that will lose its impact second time you watch it (my friend just watched it second time in few days), but there are some big surprises in there and you deserve to see them unprepared. I will just say that the movie has a quite slow build-up and that things start to become interesting somewhere after first hour. After that, I just couldn't stop trying to guess what will happen next... Let's just say that this is a movie about the personal and professional rivalry between to magicians, with several unexpected turns.

The movie some great characters and actors that play them succeed in giving them credit. We have Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie, to name the most famous. Effects are not flashy, but the atmosphere of the movie is superb. This is a dark and violent movie, and surprisingly, without happy end or a moral lecture.

So, to keep things short, just treat yourself with "The Prestige"!

Book review: "Hawkwood and the Kings" by Paul Kearney

I have encountered "Monarchies of God" series by Paul Kearney in a some review at SFsite.com some time ago, although I forgot most of the details. I had some vague impression of Hawkwood being a mercenary leader in Middle-Age based Europe with existence of magic. When Amazon.com started pumping my recommendation with historical fantasy books because I had "Hawkwood and the Kings" in my wish list, my interest somewhat dropped. But the series still had good reviews, there was some recommendation by Steven Erikson (I don't usually care about front-cover generic recommendations) and it was pretty short (only two omnibuses), I decided to give it a try.

I first planned to do two reviews, one for each books in the omnibus ("Hawkwood's Voyage" and "The Heretic Kings"), but when I started reading the second book, I realized that there is no real distinction between them - the plot goes on immediately. This is actually one book split in two (or more probable, five) chunks.

It is pretty hard to comprise the story of "Hawkwood and the Kings" in one paragraph. Even though these books are very short (416 pages for the whole omnibus), there is a lot of going on. These books are clearly based on 15th and 16th century Europe, during the Turkish Invasions and discovery of American continent. We have several unconnected plot lines viewed from different POVs that make a pretty detailed picture of the setting and the plot. But this is not a historical fiction - history is different, geography, mentality... And of course, this is the setting that contains things like magic, Thaumaturgies Guild, werewolves, homonculus... I again have to repeat that there is really much "meat" in plot for such short books.

A titular character of the first book, Richard Hawkwood, is a moderately successful sea-captain in Kingdom of Abrusio (based on Spain). He gets coerced (almost blackmailed) by a nobleman Murado to captain the voyage whose mission is to find the "West Continent" revealed in a sea-log in possession of Murado. But he doesn't know that this log reveals several prior voyages which all ended bad for those involved, and most of them included some connection to magic. To make their situation worse, King Abeley (another POV characters) forces them to pick a special cast of colonist: Dweomer folk (licensed Guild mages, herbal women, shapeshifters, soothsayers...) who recently got in problems when Ramusian Church (depicted upon Catholic Church) started a series of witch-hunts and prosecutions, most of them ending in burnings. Unofficial leader of this contingent of colonist becomes Bardoling, a capable but unassuming mage and ex-soldier, whose main wish is to protect his young associate, werewolf Griella. Young King Abeley is trying to do the most he can to protect his people, remove the yoke of Church from his government and at the same time help his fellow monarchs in the east who are being invaded by Merduks. Other characters include Corfe (deserting offices, flying from fall of Aekir after its capture by Merduks), Heria (his wife, captured by Merduks), Gollophin (mage adviser of King Abeley), Albrect (older librarian in Church capital of Chabrion, in possession of some interesting documents), Merduk Sultan and other... This is just a synopsis of the first book - I could not describe that of the second one without revealing spoilers; and anyway, as I said, these two books can be read as one.

Prime characteristic of this book, connected to its shortness, is its fast pace. There is really much going on; we have short chapters, each with few shifts of POV in between. So these books successfully grip your attention, if you are into this. At the beginning I was reminded much to Guy Gavriel Kay, especially to "The Lions of Al-Rassan" (one of my favorite books). But later differences start kicking in, and this becomes very distinctive book. I had some problems in the very beginning with warming up to this book, because it uses much of "naval talk" (I don't even want to start listing these words), and I am not into this kind of books (especially not in pirates). But as things start shifting to other focuses, I made the necessary adjustment and enjoyed the book. One of the best attributes of this book was its attention to politics - I really like this focus in books. And of course, it was not presented from just one side, so you have to weight your preferences on your own.

There are much characters in these book, too much to describe them in details. But each one is well written, with his/hers own agenda. These characters are sometimes on conflicting sides, and I really like when writer forces us to think about the sided on our own, instead preparing everything for reader by making a clear distinction on good and bad side. They are all complex, possessing multiple sides to their personality and you will not have any problem remembering who is who. But characters are also included in the biggest objection I had with Kearney's writing - and that is the lack of empathy and connection to characters. They are interesting, but hey all stay pretty remote and reader is somehow not included in their suffering. Also, one could complain about the lack of female characters in this book.

Writing is pretty good, except too much sailor-talk in several instances. It sounds like Kearney really looked into details he wrote about: sailing, guns, society... He focuses more on dialog and plot advancing than on descriptions of surrounding - but when he does, it is done properly. There is some humor in these books, arising mostly from the witticism of the characters, but the tone in overall is mostly darker. This is, I think, a book that can be enjoyed be various types of readers - they are short, but full of details; they are fast, but complex.

All in all, "Hawkwood and the Kings" is one very good book, especially if you like history-based books with lots of details and interesting plot. My biggest objection is its shortness, but I definitely plan to read and enjoy the second omnibus "Century of the Soldier".

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.

Movie review: "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy"

Last week my girlfriend and I decided to go to movies and "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" was the only movie with good enough description and playing at acceptable time. Garry Oldman was also one of the reasons I wanted to watch it.

The premise of the movie is very simple and straightforward: Cold War England, head-quarters of intelligence service, retired famous spy, a traitor.

This straightforwardness is at the same time the best and worst part of it. This is really a hard-core Cold War spy movie: there is not much action; characters take much time revisiting past and thinking why someone acted as he has. There is some stealing of documents, pretending that you are somebody else... If you like such movies, you will be very satisfied. But on the other hand, this is not anything more than a spy movie. In first few minutes you learn that there is a traitor, and in last few minutes you learn who it was - everything between is one curvy, but single line.

Performance of this movie is really on the top level. Member of the secret service are all a bit eccentric, so there is much humor, but it is of that quiet and intelligent type. On the other side, there are also few hard and cruel scenes, because life of a professional spy is such. Beginning of the movie is somewhat slow, where nothing happens. Gary Oldman is a main actor, but in first half hour, I don't think he says a word (although he is on screen). There are also few other famous British actor, so this part is good.

All in all, "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" is not a movie to be excited about (except if you are a fan), but a good enough movie for anyone.

Movie review: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

I have been quite busy for the last two weeks, so wasn't able to find a free afternoon to write this post, even though I watched "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" the weekend before last. I have seen the trailer for it when I went to movies to watch "Contagion" (I think), so I talked my girlfriend into watching it.

I knew few facts about the movie before watching it, and few of my friends watched the Swedish version of the movies and judged them good. Curiously, I have had a page-marker with praises for the Croatian translation of the "Millennium" trilogy by Stieg Larsson for couple of years now, but I didn't make the connection with the movie because they kept the original names in translation (the original name of the book is "Men who hate Women"). More so, the marker contained praises for the books, but they were written by one "famous" Croatian poet which I don't like (don't like his taste in books), so I stupidly dismissed the books. But now, after watching the movie, I think I will read them in future.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is a thriller dealing with some old murders in Swedish aristocratic family. Plot is quite good. Movie lasts more than two and a half hours so they took their time and used it good - main action doesn't start immediately, but it takes some time to introduce characters. There are two main characters: Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander; their plots start separately and run in parallel, but are connected somewhere in the middle of the movie. Mikael is a middle-aged famous journalist in the magazine called "Millennium" who targets a rich industrialist and writes an article depicting him as a criminal - but after some of his claims are proved false, his whole article is the taken as nothing more than slander and he loses credibility. Since he wants to move from public eye for some time, he accepts an assignation by another rich old man, Henrig Vanger. He task up front is writing Henrik's biography, but in truth he is trying to solve the disappearance of his niece some forty years ago. Another complication is that someone from his family is probably to blame - even worse, Henrik's whole family lives on isolated island so Mikael is maybe living next door the possible murdered. On the other side of Sweden, Lisbeth, a 23 year old is trying to sort her life. She was a problematic child, always different from others - abused by her father and blessed/cursed with photographic memory. She is officially under care of decent social-worker who treats her well; without his knowledge she does some investigation work for highly-expensive detective company. But after her caretaker suffers a stroke, she is put under care of sadistic Bjurman...

As I said, plot is quite good and also done pretty well. Two independent plots are not very usual, but this worked very well because this was you never know what is coming up next. Another good point of the movie is that induces the audience to participate in the movie. Claim that the culprit is someone from Vanger family is given quite early in the movie, so you just have to try to guess who of them could be the one.

Characters are also interesting. Mikael is played by Daniel Craig, and he is very convincing in the role of intelligent journalist who is at first dismissive of this case, but later gets sucked in by its curiousness. Lisbeth is played by mostly unknown (at least to me) Rooney Mara, but she also does a great job with this demanding role.

Demanding, because without the character of Lisbeth, this movie would still be a very good thriller, but it would lose much of its impact. And this impact is acquired by unusual amount of brutality and violence, both physical and psychological. So, although "all the rape" is not strictly necessary for the plot, it is what separates this movie from others. So, be warned, this movie contains quite few shocking scenes, and they are done very visual and explicit. This is not your usual Hollywood movie, which probably didn't return much in money, but it paid off in respect.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is one of the best movies I watched in last couple of years. It contains much violence, and its dark atmosphere will not be suitable for anyone; but if you like high-budget thrillers and don't have aversion to explicit scenes, this could be a movie for you.

TV show review: "The Pillars of the Earth"

I started watching this series with my girlfriend sometime in December, after we finished watching "Game of Thrones". I heard few people talking about it (it was also going on TV around that time) and then remembered reading about the book somewhere, so I thought it will be a good watch.

"The Pillars of the Earth" is an 8-episode historical TV-show with a story set in 12th century England. As it covers a period of couple of decades there is a lot of going around. On highest scale we follow the war between cousins, after King Stephen takes the throne from rightful Queen Maude. But the focus is put on a town of Kingsbridge and its residents: Prior Phillip, an ambitious but extremely pious and moral man; Tom Builder, a master builder whose dream is to build a cathedral; his son Alfred and talented foster-son Jack. Their plans to build a cathedral in Kingsbridge will be a thorn in the eye for corrupted Bishop Waleran and wicked family Hamleigh, which stole the neighboring Shiring Castle from its rightful owners, young Aliena and Richard. In the background of all this events is the story of Jack Shareburg, a mysterious man who was killed for witnessing a sinking of the White Ship which carried England's original Crown-Prince.

Plot is not bad as it is, but it is pretty much predictable and full of tropes. I presume that it worked much better in the book where it could be developed in more details, but here, more experienced viewers will able to guess immediate events without much trouble. But if you like history you will probably find it interesting. It is gritty and violent, with lots of fights and scheming.

Characters are much better, although they also suffer from the same problem - they had to be simplified to fit the frame of the show. But they are complex enough and should be able to pique your interest. This is especially true for Bishop Waleran and Prior Phillip, who are probably two most complex characters in the series. The Hamleighs will also be able to provide you with some shock. Most of the "good" characters behave as you would expect from them, but the "bad" ones will be there to make things interesting.

The production of this series is a minus for it. Much, much weaker than "Game of Thrones" (comparing these two is maybe unfair from me, but I have watched them one after another). Locations and people are quite limited. Mass battles are anything but. The cast is pretty good and well known, though. No one is a big star, of course, but even I was able to recognize a lot of faces, if not names.

Taking all this in consideration, "The Pillars of the Earth" is nice enough historical series, although I would not recommend it to anybody. This is a series for lazy Sundays, if you don't have anything better to watch.

Anime review: "Souten Kouro"

I was finally able to watch "Souten Kouro"! This anime came out more than two years ago - almost three now - but it wasn't until recently subbed by any group. The reason stated for this by any group that tried tackling it was that the anime was too complex and had too many characters. Considering this and the comments on AniDB, which were all praising, I was pretty much heated up for this show. After watching it, I now see I was misled by these comments, but also that this is a very good anime.

"Souten Kouro" is an adaptation of the manga with same name. Mange, in turn, is based on Chinese historical period called Three Kingdoms and 14th century novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It is set in the end of third century, when China was a place of great turmoil - a land of heroes, violence and great armies. This story is presented with Cao Cao (famous Chinese warlord and statesman) as a central character. Cao Cao was in history depicted as a cruel, but efficient governor, but this anime tries to put his character in context of this violent times and events and pictures him as more humane and benevolent person.

First, although it is hard to see it as such at the beginning, this is a pretty much accurate historical adaptation. It has a really big number of characters, and most of them are present in only episode or two. Since story in this show lasts some 40 years, and characters change much in appearance and clothing, it is sometimes hard to follow who is who. I tried putting few names in Wikipedia and got results for all - quite big articles with description of event from this anime! So if you like historical stories, this this is your show.

My biggest problem with it is the form this story is presented. This combination of real-life characters and complex story is displayed as shounen battle anime - main characters are twice in size as normal persons, and when they go to battle they scream a lot and singlehandedly kill hundreds of soldiers. Well, it would be unfair and untrue to tell this show is only a battle anime. No, this is only one small part of it - but it almost ruined it for me. This is mostly true for first 5 or so episodes, where early years of Cao Cao's life are depicted - he kills bandits, falls in love with foreign beauties, outsmarts Chief Eunuchs, and so. This part is so similar in spirit to "Sengoku Basara" (which I hated) that I almost stopped watching. This would be a pity because story power up later, but I would be happier if they made this beginning more historical than action show.

This problem is especially present whenever Lu Bu appears. He is also a historical person and in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is presented as Chinese mightiest warrior. This mean that in this show he is pictured as 10-foot muscled giant with dreadlocks, who rarely speaks and whenever goes to battle (and this is often) sound a very irritating battle cry (I fail with every try of describing it; you just have to hear it), jumps ten-stories high and kills hundreds of people. On the other hand, he IS a very important part of the story and has some good drama centered around him.

Cao Cao was also very irritating at the beginning - he stands perfectly erect, tall and speaks in proclamations. But later, as he gets older, he really grows into his act and feels very natural. I must say I really liked his character - he has done some wicked but cool stuff.

Another objection, although smaller one, is that anime ends abruptly. We have some really big battles happening, when suddenly at the end of one we got letters "And so he continued to fight until becoming greatest hero ever..." (I made up this sentence, but something like that) and this is it. And at this time I really started to like this show.

Animation and visual aspects of "Souten Kouro" are also something special. Although it has lots of bad CGI effects and computer-generated faces that move like from old video-games, when important characters come to fore they are done superbly. E.g. you can see how gradually Cao Cao and rest grow beards as they become older - they really took care of details. Opening is good, ending not so, but nothing out of the ordinary. Voices are done very good (except that Lu Bu!), other sounds also. Anime has 26 episodes.

As this is accurate historical anime, you can expect some really brutal and violent action. Cao Cao was respected and also had some bad and cruel reputation. On the other hand, expect some good and sharp humor.

So, despite some flaws (too much feel of battle action anime), "Souten Kouro" is pretty good historical anime. It has great complex story and really good and big cast, so it is sometimes hard to follow, but if you are into history, this is definitely a show for you.

Anime review: "Samurai Champloo"

This is my second time watching "Samurai Champloo" - first time was at January 2008, short time after I started watching anime. At that time it was one of best anime I watched, and in my mind stayed that even after I watched many times more shows. I didn't have any plans to watch it again, but I didn't have idea what to watch so I decided to remind myself of its greatness.

What I didn't know at the time of my first watching, "Samurai Champloo" was made by the same guy who made "Cowboy Bebop": Watanabe Shinichiro. These two anime share much in common - mixture of genres, stress on music, humor, even design of characters. For SC, this mixture is a blending of samurai anime with slapstick comedy and history. Anime follows a journey of three main characters. Fuu is a teenage girl whose mother recently died, and after losing everything in fire (caused by two other main characters), she decided to start looking for her father, "samurai who smells on sunflowers". Jin is a young ronin, silent, careful and emaciate - we don't learn much about his past until later in show. Mugen is Jin's complete opposite - loud, flamboyant and a criminal. What they two have in common is their unmatched skill with swords and the fact that they are running from world. So without anything better to do with themselves (and with some blackmail from Fuu), they will join Fuu in search for the mysterious samurai.

This main plot actually doesn't have much importance until last three episodes (out of 26). Anime comprises of mostly unconnected episodes following the trio traveling over Edo Japan. Adventures they fall into are based either on real historic events or popular myths of that time, but colored in anime's original and extreme nature. For example, we have a story about popularization of ukiyo-e paintings in which Ukiyo-e is only a pretense for getting young girls kidnapped and sold to sexual slavery. Several of the episodes reveal more of character's past, but we never actually learn exactly what happened to them to end as they are. Anime is mostly light in tone and in bigger part consist of humorous scenes, but in several instances get very emotional and strong (in sense of shounen anime).

I must admit that I didn't like "Samurai Champloo" this time as I expected, contrary to "Baccano!" which I adored even more the second time. Don't get me wrong, I still think it is a great anime, but it didn't give me as much laugh as first time. The problem may be that it had a big impact on me so I remembered all the best scenes very clearly, so they didn't surprised me as at first watch. Also, maybe I expected too much.

Colors and animation is what you would expect from an older anime (2005), but design of characters is still over-the-top. The same can be said for music, which consist mostly of hip-hop. There is also one great Japanese old country song in episode 13 (or 14).

Still, "Samurai Champloo" is one great anime, a one of the masterpieces of famous director. Although maybe not appropriate for novice anime fans, I think this is one of anime everybody should watch eventually.

Book review: "Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay

I haven't read Guy Gavriel Kay for several years now, since I singed out of library. Before, I used to re-read one of his books every few months, resulting in reading his opus (6 books in library) every couple of years. You can say that he is one of my favorite writers, although I don't count him in Big n (n being 3, 5 or some similar number of favorite writers) for simple reason of him not writing long epic series. He recently (last year) published another of his novels (he published some urban fantasy novel and a collection of poetry, but I don't like urban fantasy and can't read poetry, so I don't count them) and I was somewhat unsatisfied because buying it didn't fit in my schedule. But my local bookstore has a promotional month(s) when you get three books for two, so I decided to treat myself with this.

Although Kay dislikes branding of his books as "historical fantasy", I don't know how else this should be labeled. I allow that it is mostly historical fiction, but there is a touch of fantasy and for me this is a definition of historical fantasy. This is true for this "Under Heaven", too. Actually, "Under Heaven" is a typical Kay book. We have a historical setting and real historic event as theme (An Shi Rebellion, which I didn't know first thing about). We have larger-than-life characters (most of them male, but females are in no way withhold), with unreal levels of honor, cunning and passion that feel real nevertheless. We have a meandering story, with lots of jumps in time and space, short POVs from characters that will never be seen again, changes between POV and narration types. And at last, we have a main character who is a smart and able guy, suddenly finding himself in highest circles (royalty) where he feels inadequate, but actually acts marvelously and then ends removed from important events and future.

In "Under Heaven" this is Shen Tai, second son of famous, now passed away, General Shen Gao. Since their customs obligate sons to mourn their father for two years (except if they are members of army), Shen has chosen something unorthodox (but not forbidden): to spend next two years in isolation, burying the bones of soldiers fallen at Kuala Nor (site of many battles between Kitai and Tagur). Shen's intentions were sincere and innocent, but his actions have now attracted the attention of royalty: one of wives of Taguran Emperor, daughter of Emperor of Kitai, has given him an extravagant gift of 200 Sardian horses (equivalent of Bill Gates giving you 100 million dollars - not big money for him, but you are suddenly in everyone's focus). Now Tai has to find a way of dealing with horses without shaming his family or offending the Emperor or anybody powerful, avoiding machinations of his ambitious brother and enmity of First Minister (whose newest concubine was once Tai's favorite courtesan) - all this in rigid and custom-obsessed society on a brink of rebellion... Of course, this is not all, but if this is not enough to attract you, nothing more will.

As I said, this is a typical book for Kay. We are following one important, but not the most important, character during turbulent times, based on some historical epoch. In this case this is 8th century China: not my favorite history topic, nor one I know much about. Since I don't know much about it, I have to trust that Kay was not making all this up; based on his previous book, I think the setting was truthful as much as possible. The same cannot be said for his characters: they are always too ideal, whether as good or as bad guys. But this make them fun to read about. His storytelling is also specific: a chapter starts with present events, then we a transfer to completely (seemingly) irrelevant time or POV and then this two lines connect. But he does it so good that it feels natural and simple.

About this book particularly: I liked most of the book, but ending was a bit rushed. His books are not usually overly long (relatively), but I think this was a shorter one (560 pages). He does a great beginning: introduction to setting and characters, acceleration of main plot. But then things end too fast. I can't say that ending is unsatisfactory or doesn't feel closed, but I think a hundred more pages of plot development would be a bad thing.

As those who have read his previous books, there are always some fantastic elements present there that don't make much worldwide impact (except in "Tigana"), but make a tremendous personal impact of main characters. It is also present here, and I must say I was surprised how direct it was.

Different people like different Kay's books. My favorite book is "The Lions of Al-Rassan", while I find his most ambitious work to be "The Sarantine Mosaic", and I also adore "Tigana". I less like "A Song for Arbonne" and "The Last Light of the Sun". For some people is the other way around. I found "Under Heaven" better than these last two, but not good as my favorite. Kay's fans will notice that I didn't mention "Fionavar Tapestry": I read only the first one ("The Summer Tree") and I hated it - I really don't connect this book to Kay.

Nonetheless, I would recommend "Under Heaven" to every Kay's fan or anybody who like historical fantasy or is a sucker for romance. Realistic setting, great characters and enjoyable plot make this a very good read!

Book review: "Magician" by Raymond E. Feist

First, I just want to make a quick note to clear things. This book is sometimes split in two volumes "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master". I have the combined edition, so this post is about both volumes.

"Magician" is the first book of quite long "Riftwar Cycle", by Raymond E. Feist. Books in cycle are separated in sagas that usually consist of three books each. Currently, there are 29!!! novels in the cycle and I have read 17 in this cycle. I must admit, I read this book on computer several years ago (I did this with only one other series: "The Belgariad" and "The Malloreon" by David Eddings), so don't have all books in my collection. I have five of them now and I am buying sequel volumes as opportunity presents.

Feist is an uncommon writer. "Magician" is I think the only original work in this whole cycle, and even this book doesn't introduce much original fantasy elements. He is notorious for "borrowing" from others, and even more, from himself. He recycles his characters and plots. When someone dies and he was popular with the readers, you can expect one of two things: either he will be found alive in some other part of universe or he will be replaced by his grandson who bears a striking resemblance to his deceased ancestor in the way he looks, talks and thinks. If some characters is old, he will maybe get a potion that restore his youth. If the good guys have become so strong that no one in universe can even dream about defeating them, invasion from another dimension will occur. You get the picture... This is not rare: lots of writers do this when they have no more ideas and want to earn money on previous glory; mostly they will fail and loose audience (for example, Eddings for one, at least for me). What is strange is that I actually like his books. Sure, they are not the pinnacle of fantasy genre or writing in general, but they are very, very fun to read. Judging from some reviews I have read of Feist's books, other people have noticed this, but it doesn't stop them from enjoying his books. I have read "Magician" twice before, but didn't have any problems enjoying this book once again.

"Magician" is a fast book, so it's hard to describe plot without spoilers. You will not find long sequences where nothing happens, no multiple-pages monologues. The book starts with Pug, who is one of few characters that will stay in the series as a constant. I wouldn't call him a central character, but one of several such. He is an orphan kid, living in castle/town of Crydee as kitchen boy. After meeting with town's magician Kulgan, he will be selected as his apprentice, although as much from pithy as from talent. After saving Duke Borric's daughter, Princess Caraline, from some trolls, he will be promoted as Squire. His luck will rise in bad times, because they will find evidences of forthcoming invasion to their Kingdom, and even more unlucky, by invaders from another world! This is just a start of the book and we will follow him and other characters coming through different adventures. We will follow Pug as his luck falls and raises on both worlds, as slave, magician, scholar... His childhood friend Tomas will be very soon separated from him, but in his misfortune he will find a suit of armor belonging to long extinct and mythical Valheru, which will change him drastically; you will have to find out for yourself either to good or bad. Prince Arutha, son of Duke Borric, a youth more older that his years, will have to take responsibility and take charge of defense of Crydee will his father is fighting of the invasion by alien Tsurani... There are lots of other characters, many of whom get their own POV sequence; since flow of the book is fast, this is just description of start-up situation. We fill also meet pirates, crazy kings, mystic sorcerers, old dragons, and much more.

This was the first book that introduced Midkemia, the world that this whole humongous series will mostly take place. Here we are introduced to the Kingdom of the Isles, a classical medieval kingdom. East part is more populated and has been long tamed ago; it is a place of humans and cities. West part, with Crydee as major town, is much wilder place, where people are still in danger of nature. Except humans, here we can find dwarves, elves, goblin tribes, dark elves... Interesting fact is that humans and dwarves (and goblins, I think) are not native to Midkemia and have arrived only after elves have been freed from Valheru, the ancient masters of this world. Of course, Midkemia is much larger, but we will be introduced to its other parts in sequencing books. The world to Tsurani on the other hand, Kelawan, is based on Asian cultures, Chinese mostly, and is a lot less interesting place, but it has some important parts. Worldbuilding is one of Feist's strong-points. He didn't invent much and borrowed races and concepts from others, but Midkemia is very interesting place. He also took great care of details, invented a nice history and in general developed one of better settings in fantasy. A special plus that he didn't leave it static: through almost thirty books we will see it comes through some great changes.

Feist's characters, on the other hand, are at the same time his strength and weakness. They are great fun to read; they are funny, witty, honorable, good looking... On the other hand, they lack substance and depth. An elven prince will always behave as an elven prince should; the same is true for serious and responsible prince, pirate with foul mouth but good heart, loyal general, and so on. They are just too stereotypical and predictable; but there are so much of them and Feist puts them through such diverse situations, that they are never boring. Even Jimmy the Hand, one of my all-time favorite characters of all times (I would immediately buy a new book that features him) is basically just a witty scoundrel.

From technical side, Feist's writing is similar to his characters: nothing innovative or stunning, but easy to read and enjoy. His pace is fast and it makes an almost 700 pages book look like a longer one without being cramped.

Raymond E. Feist's "Magician" is a nice book for those who only want to relax and enjoy some good old-fashioned fantasy. It is detailed and complex in just right amount to be interesting without being tiring. A book that every fantasy-fan should read; rest of this series is more for fans.

Book review: "The Thousandfold Thought" by R. Scott Bakker

This weekend I finished "The Thousandfold Thought", last book in first trilogy of "The Second Apocalypse" by R. Scott Bakker. As I wrote in in my posts about its prequels ("The Darkness That Comes Before" and "The Warrior Prophet"), I read them before in Croatian. This was the first book in this series that I haven't read prior, and judging by first two books, I had some big expectations for it.

I will presume that you have read both "The Darkness That Comes Before" (TDTCB from now on) and "The Warrior Prophet" (TWP), so beware of spoilers.

As was with TWP, story of TTT continues directly after its prequel. There is a long multiple POV abstract of previous books for those who don't remember everything that happened. Actually, I would advise everybody to read it, because it reveals some stuff that I didn't get or even notice while reading TDTCB and TWP. For example, I was wondering what was Kellhus getting from seducing Esmenet; well, except the tremendous influence on Achamian. I didn't understand why he allowed her to get pregnant with him. Abstract reveals that his main motive was using Esmenet's inborn intelligence to produce superior children in their union. Similar fine details are revealed.

Although what exactly happened at the end of TWP stays a bit murky, the effects of it are clear: Kellhus has acquired the possession over almost whole Holy War. There are only two sides still rebelling after him: Conphas, with all his legions, and Cnaiür. All other, even the Scarlet Spires, are now forced (whether they realize it or not) to listen the Warior-Prophet, the Voice of God. This means that for first time all this men and power, even somewhat weakened by prior conflicts, is focused by single will. And this will finally directs it to Shimeh.

Conphas decides not to yield to Kellhus, so he and his men get disarmed and sent back. Of course, Kellhus doesn't trust him even then and sends Cnaiür to keep him in check, at the same time removing the liability presented by Cnaiür. But he doesn't know that recent events brought once proud Scylvendy to the brink of madness, and that he was already seduced by the Consult, using the same weapon Kellhus used against him: Sërwe. Esmenet has risen from a simple whore to the Holy Consort and uses her unexpected intelligence to rule and organize newly found sect of the Warrior-Prophet. Achamian finally decides to reveal his final secret to Kellhus, the knowledge of Gnosis, powerful magic of old North. He also decides to finally reveal the existence of Kellhus (the Anasûrimbor) to his order, the Mandate. Consult either doesn't stand still, using his agents planted long ago, and planting some new ones...

The series continues with multi-POV/multi-plot structure started in previous books. But contrary to them, it has some problems with pacing and structure. It focuses on inner workings on characters for long stretches and then switches to advancing the plot on several pages, after which it returns to characters. Sometimes this style of writing works well. Guy Gavriel Kay is quite good with it and uses it all the time. Here it didn't work well. Advances were quite abrupt and shallow in explanations, so the reader is forced to grasp the implications on his own. I am not against this approach, but although I consider myself an advanced and fast-catching reader, I was left in dark for a lot of things. If book ended in such way, I would really have doubts about continuing this series. Thankfully, there are two things that saves it.

First is the ending. Even it is a bit too much fast-paced and not completely clear, it provides a satisfactory ending for this trilogy and prepares a glorious path for the next one. We have some really good action at the end, on several fronts. A plus is that it stays unpredictable till the last page. I also liked how things clicked perfectly; it is obvious that Bakker planned things. On the other hand, some things stay too unclear; I hope this was also intended.

Second thing, which surprised me when I first saw it, was Encyclopedic Glossary at the end. Book has around 600 pages; this glossary takes some 120 pages of it and it is comparable to the one at the end of "Lord of the Rings" (not THAT good, of course). We have not only simple names of people and places; there are stories and histories. All things and concepts that were only briefly mentioned during all three books here are (in some length) explained: First Apocalypse, Nonmen and Inchoroi, Tusk... It was a really enjoyment to read it and my understanding of the books is now much better; too bad that a lot of people will probably quit it before reaching this place. As a review from Amazon said: "Bakker asks his readers not only to enter his world, but to study it". What I consider a plus, some will regard as a flaw.

Other than these two things, I liked Esmenet's "court" plot. I like politics and espionage in books. It also shows a complexity of Bakker's characters: we have religious fanatics who are fanatic to the core, then those who believe but still retain their ambitions, and those who just pretend. I also liked explanations of magic, Gnosis and Psuke. Magical confrontations at the end were quite something.

So, to conclude: "The Thousandfold Thought" is a book weaker and harder to read than its prequels, but whose ending succeeds in pulling it above the standard. It also looks like a necessary part of great series, even though this remains to be seen. Only for those who like complex books and found first two books to their taste.

Book review: "The Warrior-Prophet" by R. Scott Bakker

I didn't plan to buy this book so soon after after reading the first part. I was thinking of buying something from different series, or watching some anime. But I was still on vacation, with too much free time and nothing to read. So, when I was passing by a bookstore, I just couldn't resist entering. Since I couldn't find "The Dragonfly Falling" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which I planned to order next, I bought "The Warrior-Prophet". And of course, after buying it, I couldn't leave it off my hand so I read it in few days... Good thing my vacation is over, because I would be "forced" to buy the next part, "The Thousandfold Thought".

About the book, now. I found this review a bit hard, because it is very similar to the last one. Same characters with no additions, same setting with only small new revelations. R. Scott Bakker obviously went more into depth that width with this book.

"The Warrior-Prophet" starts immediately after "The Darkness That Comes Before". There is even detail synopsis of previous events for those that read the first part too long ago. The book continues with the model of multiple points of view; since all the major players are traveling together, it can't be said this is really multiple plots novel, but it's not far from it. Drusas Achemian (A.K.A Akka) is finally reunited with his lover, the prostitute Esmenet. But this will not last long and they will be separated; and events that will happen will change Akka much, to a man of more resolve, but much sadder. It will also lead Esmenet to fate she couldn't even dream before. Cnaiür is having hard time adapting to his new circumstances. He has become a war-leader of his enemies, praised by them, even though to him they are less than human. But much more problematic is that Sërve, his prize and one of few things he can use for defining himself as Scylvendi, is not anymore his; she got seduced and became a believer in the Warrior-Prophet. The Holy War, and the Great and Lesser Names that lead it, continue to fight their way to Holy Shimes (in some ways this is the central plot of the book). But each member of it plays his own game: some for faith, some for fame, some for vengeance. And the hidden player, the Consult, plays the ultimate game, a plot to bring the Second Apocalypse. They have an easy time, since no one even believes in them.

And in the midst of all this we have Anasûrimbor Kellhus, the central character of the series. This man is something really special. He has no super-powers, no magic, not one impressing talent: only his training. But his training enables him to always take the Shorter Path to his goal, whatever that is. And his current goal is to take the hold of whole Holy War, and use it as a tool to defeat his father, Moënghus. To do this, he will take the mantle of Warrior-Prophet, a man who is a voice of god. But as his plan progress, he will find variables that are incalculable even to him. The magic, which doesn't yield to logical though he was trained to. The prophecy, which shatters the basic rule of his order. And the Consult, which abilities surpasses even his. But his biggest question will come from things he uses to enslave others: faith, emotions, God... What if he really is the Warrior-Prophet?

As I said, book introduces almost no new elements, but the existing ones are explored in much more details. We learn more of the setting, the world of Eärwa and its history. As in previous book, the worldbuild is flawless: I really look forward to learning more of it. Facts there were only suggested in previous book get explained in more details, but also suggestions of new facts arise. It continues using historical references and models (e.g. Holy War), like Guy Gavriel Kay, although with less parallels. The same is true for the characters: we got a lot better measure of them, but no a complete one. Even at the end of second book they are able to surprise and delight us. We have several new characters, but it is clear that the major ones were introduced in the first book. As before, there are no black-and-white characters. Everyone has his or her own agenda and his moral standards which to his or her actions have to be judged.

There are few things that bothered me in this book. It follows the pattern on large period of time being covered descriptively in few pages, than short, but monumental events with much coverage. This is fine, I like when authors do this. But Bakker use too much small characters in his description, whose names are all very unusual and hard to remember. This sometimes makes it hard for me to pay attention to what I am reading. And this is extends to his descriptions of battles. They are intense and detailed, but the wagonload of names of captains, tribe-leaders, and so on, doesn't help me to create a clear picture of what is going on.

On the other hand, I really appreciate Bakker's imagination; even though I read this book once before, I was surprised how tough he was to the people in it.

One more thing, just a warning. Bakker gets very graphical in his description of sex and violence. Also, if I am not mistaken, there is much more sex that in first book.

Despite these small flaws, my statement that this series present the best what epic fantasy can offer still stand. Not the best series that I ever read (because the beauty is in imperfections), but great in every aspect. Let us hope that R. Scott Bakker succeeds with his next books as he has with "The Warrior-Prophet".