New TV-show: "666 Park Avenue"

In last two weeks, my girlfriend and I started watching a new TV-show "666 Park Avenue" and became pretty hooked up on it. I watched first 10 minutes accidentally at my friend's place and we watched the first episode last week. And then at Saturday we watched next 5 episodes in one marathon watch till late in the night. Yesterday we watched 7th episode, which is the last one aired. And series is great.

It is a supernatural mystery, with a touch of horror. A young and perspective couple, Jane and Henry, arrive in New York city and talk themselves in getting an apartment in elite and old hotel called the Drake (on address 999 Park Avenue) - due to Jane's being an architect and skilled in restoration. The hotel is owned and run by Gavin (Terry Q'Quinn/Locke from "Lost") and his wife Olivia. In first episode, Gavin is implied as something of a Devil, giving people what they want in exchange for... something. We got Gavin, we got an old and maybe cursed building, we got a young girl-prophet, and we got main female character deeply connected to all this.

As for now, we still don't know what really is going around, or what exactly Gavin is, but it looks like in next few episodes we will find out. Anyway, the series is great, mysterious and well played. And even better, judging by ending of this last episode, the mystery behind everything is maybe not even magical, but steampunkish (judging by the dragon-mosaic) - which is not usually the case.

Now, the downside: ABC decided to cancel the series, so there will not be a second season! Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! IMDB shows 9 episodes planned, but Wikipedia says there will be thirteen - I am rooting for the second option.

Nevertheless, I strongly recommend "666 Park Avenue" to everybody.

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: "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: "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.

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.

Book review: "The City and the City" by China Miéville

I was recently visiting a local bookstore, and they have been having this 3-for-2 action for some time which I wanted to take advantage of. I had two books picked and planned to pick the third in spur of the moment. It turned out there wasn't any books I had considered before (and had on my wishlist) so I (somewhat unwillingly) bought "The City and the City" by China Miéville.

So far I have read only one his book, "Perdido Street Station", which I liked immensely. It is some mix of urban fantasy, science fiction and steam punk, happening in a fictional world of Bas-Lag and a city of New Crobuzon. There are two more books set in this same setting. Anyway, my point is that although I liked this book so much and had heard some really good things about Miéville (reviews of his books are continuously great), I decided not to buy his books because they are not long epic fantasy series (which is my preferred genre). My money and, much more important, my time are limited; and although I would like to read more, 3-5 books a month is currently my standard. Sadly, I don't see it becoming higher in future.

Back to the book in question. This is a very unique book and revealing much about the plot or setting would unquestionably spoil it. You will just have to believe me and multitude of other reviewers that Miéville's books are worth reading.

Basically, this is a regular thriller. It starts and ends with an investigation of a murder. Its main character is a police inspector; we have some hard-core police investigation, which later in a book grows an international conspiracy and acquires cooperation with not-so-friendly neighboring country. I am sure everybody read such books and seen movies with this generic description.

What makes this book so special is the setting. At first, it is a common one: fictional country and its capital city, somewhere in middle-east Europe (not exactly in Central Europe, but not under Russian influence either). As you start reading, everything will first look normal. But since this is a book by Chine Miéville, you expect that things will be anything but normal. So you continue and find nothing amiss, except some descriptions and names that you can't really grasp, but that don't look really unexplainable. And then, somewhere close to page 100 (and keep in mind this is a 400 pages book), it hits you in all its uniqueness and strangeness!!! And your only option then is to continue reading until you finish it...

As I said, the story is quite commonplace and so is the main character, inspector Borlú. A middle year's police inspector, smart and experienced. Somewhat smarter and more dignified that his peers, but not so much to make him a loner. The story is in first-person view and Borlú is a very good narrator. I would say he is also a common-place main character, except his compassion hidden behind a strong facade. This is especially seen in a scene later in the book, when he participates in more-brutal-than-usual police interrogation.

I liked how Miéville incorporated real-world references and details here: slow internet, movie references, real companies... Sometimes the city in the book looked quite similar to the capital of my own country, Zagreb. Although I don't think of Zagreb as romantic as the city in the book is seen - but that is probably because I am used to it.

Although I found this book great, it is not flawless. Setting is very well imagined and quite shocking at first, but the sense of shock gradually fades as you get used to it. This becomes more present as you close toward the end of the book, when all is explained and some more mysterious elements disappear. Maybe if few things were lest unexplained, a sense of wonder would remain stronger. But the story itself has enough twists to keep you interested.

Never minding this small objection, "The City and the City" is one of the best books I have read in several years, really intriguing and original. It is relatively short and it definitely doesn't belong solely to fantasy genre, so I would recommend it to everybody. As for myself, I plan to read Miéville's other works.

TV show review: "Game of Thrones"

Few days ago I finally finished watching first season of "Game of Thrones". Finally, because this 10 one-hour episodes stretched over more than a month. If someone read my post about it when I started watching it, it could be noticed that I liked the show very much. After finishing it, I can say I still like it very much, but with one reservation.

For those who don't know (if there is someone who doesn't), "Game of Thrones" is based on the first book of "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin, similarly called "A Game of Thrones". It deals with events in Medieval-based fictional kingdom (and around it) called Seven Kingdoms. It involves dynastic struggles, court politics, fates of big royal families and individuals, and introduces few overall plots that will be dealt more in future seasons. The series is renowned for its complex plot and especially its realistic and numerous characters. It is also famous for its grittiness and gradual introduction of magic: setting includes dragons, blood magic and some unknown creatures, but they are more present in later books. This first season deals mostly with Stark family and presents them as main characters. They are one of more rural noble families, residing in distant and sparse North. Events starts with King Robert Baratheon arriving to invite Eddard Stark, his best childhood friend, to became the new Hand of the King (prime-minister) and come to King's Landing to help him rule. This will not sit well with House Lannisters, probably the most powerful family, whose member is Queen Cersei. Eddards coming to the capital will force revelation of some plans and hidden secrets with potential to throw the Seven Kingdoms in turmoil. Other major plot involve Eddard bastard son Jon Snow, who will join the Night's Watch, organization trusted with holding the Wall (gigantic ice structure on edge of the North) and defending the Kingdoms from savages and maybe other, worst things. Another plot features Daenerys Targaryen, daughter of previous King Aerys II ("the Mad King") and her older brother Viserys. Targaryens were dynasty before Usurper Baratheon and they establish rule over Seven Kingdoms by use of dragons (now long gone). At the start of the series, Daenery is being married to Khal Drogo, leader of nomadic Dothraki, which will allow Viserys power and an army to reconquer the Seven Kingdoms. These are only the starting plots which will expand much in later seasons (or books).

For those previously unfamiliar with the books, or those who don't read at all and like fantasy, this show is a premium. High production, good cast, sex and violence, great plot and characters. All this is bound to catch wide audience - which was evident from the popularity of the show. I don't have many friends who read, but everybody who watched this show found it at least good or better. Many people expected some cheap Hollywood show with simple plot and shallow characters and were delighted to find the complete opposition. As I mention, the show is sparse with magic and classical fantasy elements in this first season and this probably helped to attract viewers who would in other case dismiss it as to fantastic and unrealistic (which is what one of my friend said for "Lord of the Rings" trilogy). First season focuses much more on court politics and it can be almost mistaken for some quasi-historical series based on alternative Medieval Europe.

Much of the GoT forte is in its characters. They are very numerous and feel like real people, which is always appreciated. Although this season features Starks as main characters and therefore "good guys", it nevertheless makes no assumption to picture them as saints, smarter or better than other people. They are presented as more naive, but this is more from their remoteness from the capital and court games. Sole exception to this is Ned Stark, who is (with maybe addition of Bran) who can be said to be "better" than others - although his honor doesn't make him more than most tragic character.

As I said, plot deals mostly with mundane elements like court, wars and power, while fantastic parts are only implied or briefly touched. I wouldn't go deep into explaining, because I would hate to spoil new viewers the greatness of this story, but believe me that it is great.

All in all, "Game of Thrones" is a terrific show for all kind of audience and probably one of best this year. I look forward to the next season, which is expected at spring.

As I said, there is one reservation, but it involves only the fans of books. Contrary to let's say "Lord of the Rings", for which I complained that they made too much changes and simplifications to attract more viewers, "Game of Thrones" show follows "A Game of Thrones" book closely and truthfully, as much is possible for this medium. Not all plot details and characters facets could have been revealed and presented, but show provides the basic spirit and feel of the book. Sure, there are some small changes, and even some additions, but this was kept as minimal as possible. But at the same time, this is a catch. As someone who has read the books several times (especially the first one), I quickly realized that I knew what will happen next in even the small details. So after initial thrill, I found that I don't have much more reasons to watch this series left, except to look for mistakes and complain at them. Since I watched it with my girlfriend who is not familiar with ASoIaF, I also found great temptation in not revealing any spoiler to her. But for those who read the books maybe once, or long time ago, or just want a quick reminder before going to next books, this is still a great catch.

Movie review: "Horrible Bosses"

Although we used to watch movies at my friend's place at Friday, for some time now we have been re-watching the complete "Seinfeld", which is one of our all-time favorite shows. But this Friday we made an exception for other friend who doesn't like it and watched some movie, a comedy "Horrible Bosses".

The movie follows three main characters who all have problems with their bosses: Nick is working in some large firm where he is constantly overused and degraded by his sadistic boss Dave; Kurt is very satisfied with his work and boss until he dies and gets replaced by his son, an immature cocaine-addict; Dale is having problems with his sex-crazy boss who is trying to seduce him. This is all going for some time until one night, during drinking in a bar, they start fantasizing about killing them. After stress becomes even stronger, they decide to turn their fantasy to reality. Of course, nothing will go as they plan...

As comedies goes, this one is a typical. It has a predicting and not-too-deep plot, but jokes are usually good and fairly intelligent. There is some toiler-humor but not too much. Biggest curiosity of this movie is the stars that play in it (as support characters): Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston, Donald Sutherland and Jamie Foxx.

"Horrible Bosses" is not a movie that will be long remembered, but is a good comedy for various audience and it can give a fun for hour and a half.