Book review: "The Scar" by China Miéville

Few months after finishing "Perdido Street Station", I tried the next book set in the same setting, "The Scar". I was wondering will Miéville be able to pull it again.

"The Scar" is, as "Perdido Street Station", set in setting of Bas-Lag, but this time we are far from New Crobuzon. In the book we follow a New Crobuzon refuge Bellis Coldwine. After some problems back at home (connected to Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin and the events in PSS), she is running away, traveling by ship, with destination of New Esperium, a colony established by New Crobuzon. But during the voyage, her ship is taken by mysterious Armada, a floating city made of connected ships, whose existence was kept a secret for more than a thousand years. Struggling to find some way to escape, she is dragged into experiment whose goal is to summon an avanc, a gigantic otherworldly being. But as things go further, she realizes that the avanc in only a first step in plan made my one of Armada's rulers, the Lovers.

So, we are back to Miéville's imagination. I must admit that he did very well - he managed to expand the setting of PSS, introduce a bunch of new elements, one more bizarre than another, and without being inconsistent. As before, I noticed again a wink at "The Dying Earth", with seawyrms used for pulling and some other examples. Maybe I'm wrong, but "Perdido Street Station" felt much more technologically advanced than the "The Scar" - even though they have analytical engines and guns here, but too much swords, pistols and muskets. But I presume that Miéville wanted to go this book more piratical feel, which he certainly did. This pseudo-science he writes about is very interesting. Although , some of his descriptions are a bit too grotesque and too-much-information, especially about the Remade.

PSS was also full of implied places and organizations, but here, the setting feels much more expanded through time and space: The Gengris, High Cromlech, The Ghosthead Empire, The Malarial Queendom... Even the names are great.

The main character is Bellis Coldwine, but she is more an observer that doer. Oh, she does some important deeds, but she is mostly manipulated into doing them: by Sillas Fenec and by Uther Doul. I liked how all our misconceptions about the both of them were broken till the end of the book. The second main character was Tanner Sack. Even though he was well written and his sections were interesting, I just didn't felt any respect for him - he started and ended as victim.

The plot was very good but not as strange as were the setting and the characters. It had enough small surprises to feel interested the whole way, but neither is this the book written for the plot. Then ending will some consider a cheating, but I kind of liked it: it is one of those uncertain endings with ability to modify the whole book, depending on will you believe it or not.

As I hoped, "The Scar" ended being a similar book to "Perdido Street Station" in style, but with completely new elements that enabled it to feel fresh and original. I would recommend it to anybody who liked "Perdido Street Station".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading plans for vacation

Well, I am finally going on real vacation, for a week at least. I finished with "Heirs of the Blade" by Adrian Tchaikovsky recently, and I plan to read at least two or three books in several days or weeks.

First on schedule is "Colours in the Steel" by K. J. Parker. I don't know much about the book nor about the writer, but I heard some interesting and approving words about the author, so I will give it a go.

Next I plan to read "Emperor of Thorns" by Mark Lawrence. First two books very simply great, and advance-reviews promise an even greater ending of trilogy, so I can't wait.

After that, I don't really have fixed plans, but I will maybe give a chance to some SF. I had some ideas about rereading the "Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold, before reading last two books in series for first time. This series was one of my favorites, just to mention.

Book review: "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman

As can be seen on this blog, I am mostly dedicated to fantasy series, the longer the better. But I've been tried to broaden my horizon, so I occasionally buy some stand-alone novel, or even SF or something borderline. I first noticed "The Half-Made World" by Felix Gilman on Tor.com, the main fantasy and SF blog that I follow. It sounded interesting, so I put it on my wishlist and bought it few months ago, but read it only last week. My idea about it was as some blend between steam-punk and western.

"The Half-Made World" is set in a very interesting setting. In history and technology level it is akin to 19th century America, but geographically is very different. The East ("the Old East", I think it is referenced somewhere) is more similar to England: a land of peaceful prosperity, colleges and law. The West, divided from East by a large mounting range, has been "discovered" few centuries ago. Before, it was "uncreated" land, a chaos. Now the line of creation is traveling further west, so land between is being settled. It is full of small towns and coalitions, except the two major forces. The Line is ruled by Engines, strong "spirits" embodied in train-like machines, that rule its vast land and people as a perfect machine or bureaucracy: every part of it is replaceable and only a number on paper. The Gun is its complete opposite. It is also ruled by spirits, but these are wild spirits than possess a body of a gun. These guns are carried by the Agents of the Gun, and they give them superhuman abilities like vision in dark, superb sense of smell, great strength, endurance, and healing abilities. But there is a catch - Gun can force Agent to do his will, and since most of the Agents are individualist (meaning criminals, gamblers and other shady men and women), inevitably there comes a conflict between the Agent and Gun that rides him. Usual Agent's activities are kidnapping  blackmail and often murdering of innocent people (not mentioning killing the Linesmen), this chafes to even hardened criminal sooner or later. Just for a record, the Line and the Gun has been in state of constant war almost since Founding of first colonies in West.

In such world, we follow three main characters. Liv, or formally Dr. Lysvet Alverhuysen, is a professor on celebrated Koenigswald Academy in East, after recent death of her (much older) husband, embarks on a journey to West, to work in the House of Dolorous, a mental hospital for victims of war in West. John Creedmore is aged agent of the Gun, inactive for few years, spending his time with gambling and seducing young women (his specialty). Lowry, a relatively high-positioned member on army of the Line (meaning he is placed on top floor, in a small room with no windows - no distraction for his important work) is an ambitious Linesman (which he has to hide, because the system don't allow ambition), almost fanatical in his fight against the Gun. Creedmore and and Lowry are tasked with the same mission: to retrieve the supposedly death General Enver, founder of the Red Republic, the only entity that ever had some success in resisting both the Gun and the Line, who possibly has the weapon capable of destroying both the Line and the Gun. His current occupation and location: a patient in the House of Dolorous.

The book has a very interesting start and you are immediately drawn into its setting. At first, I was reminded to Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", because of initial Liv's POV, but later I realized it is much more similar to China Miéville's New Crobuzon setting. Far from being its plagiarism, but it has the same feel. It is needless to say that I got hooked up after first three chapters.

Gilman makes his main characters also very interesting. You first feel for them, but as you read you start realizing that they are far from perfect. Lowry is conformist and fanatic, Liv is too-innocent and too above-all (pretentious even), while Creedmore is nice, but actually without conscience. Also, I was very surprised with death of one of the characters toward end of the book.

There is one part of setting that I forgot to mention in introduction: the Hillfolk. They are people of the unmade world, something like very thin Neanderthals. They are enslaved by people in West who use them for menial work. I found the part when Creedmore meets one of their shamans very interesting. For several reasons (connection with the dessert, the river, the old history), they reminded me much on Steven Erikson and his Eres'al.

The plot is interesting, but in some parts it is a bit predictable. For example, I found their first journey into unmade lands exactly as I expected. But in general, the book is interesting and I hope to learn more of its setting and character. Which I will be able, since there is sort of sequel, "The Rise of Ransom City".

All in all, "The Half-Made World" was a very interesting and exciting read. It was nice plot, very good characters and really excellent and original setting. I would recommend it to anybody, but especially to fans of China Miéville.

Anime review: "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu"

I have watched "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" last Sunday, but this was such a busy week for me that I didn't had to time to review it. Now it's finally Saturday and I have time to do it.

I've been planning to watch this movie since when it came out, early in 2010. But first there were no subs available for long time, and after that I never seemed to find time for this two and a half hour long movie. I liked the first "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu" very much, but liked the sequel "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (2009)" had some flaws ("The Endless Eight"). Nevertheless, I had good opinion of the franchise. And more, reviews of this movie were always very good - this move is currently rated first on AniDB.

"Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" (or "The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi") starts with what is a norm for the show - few days before Christmas Kyon is dragged into another Haruhi's crazy plan, without asking whether he agrees or not. But after he wakes one morning, he finds the world not as it was yesterday - there is no Haruhi or Koizumi, and Nagato and Asahina don't seem to know him. He must find what happened and how to reverse it - but before that, he must decide does he even want to leave this, world where he finally has a normal life...

The movie asks for some knowledge of previous series - the knowledge I unfortunately lacked, because I watched them some time ago. But there is not much of such situations, and they get explained in due course, so it didn't spoil much of my enjoyment. But if you have time, rewatch the first two series before watching the movie.

The movie starts a bit slow, but it gets very interesting later. It has a very convoluted plot and it helps if you are familiar with previous series (e.g. I forgot some of the supporting characters). I really didn't expect the culprit, and I liked the ending quite much. As usual, there is a large portion of comedy: lots of embarrassing situations for viewers, e.g. whenever Kyon embarrasses himself by confessing someone that he is from another world. But at the same time this is the most serious and most dramatic part for now.

As expected, the movie is very nice from visual side - not overly impressive, but with nice colors, characters and animation. Sounds are also good, even though it lacks the great music, such as was in the first season.

In case you are a fan of the series, you will really love "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" movie. I am, and I really couldn't find any flaw to it. And the fact of its highest rating tells that even other people liked this movie. So, this is definitely a movie to recommend to anybody.

Book review: "The God Engines" by John Scalzi

I've been hearing lots of good things about John Scalzi for some time now, but I haven't read anything by him yet. I know his is famous for over Internet for his opinions and blog, and that he wrote mostly SF. So when I decided to occasionally buy SF, I added one of his books, "The God Engines", on my Amazon wish list. I have some plans for my reading this fall and winter, which I will announce in one of my next posts, so I decided to read something stand-alone last week and I picked this.

I've been surprised how "The God Engines" is similar to "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" (which I read not so long ago) in premise. In both books we have gods who are chained by one other god and forced to serve humans as tools and weapons. Here, gods are literally chained, in hulls of space-ships, and used are their primary source of power. As long as the crew maintains its faith, they have nothing to fear and the god can be punished into submission. But when Captain Tephe and his crew is sent on a secret mission, they will find their faith in question, and who can then say what will happen next...

My second surprise was the shortness of this book: with 136 pages this is only a novella. But it is my own fault for not reading more about what I was buying. I am more attracted to longer books, and I was able to finish this book in two days, reading only few hours each.

But the book is pretty good and I can see why Scalzi is famous. It is a type of novellas that I used to read in collection that were published few years ago in Croatia, gathering a lot of older SF hits (Clarke, Haldeman, Hamilton...). The setting is very imaginative, and although we don't see much of it, looks pretty solid. It has a curios mix of high technology and religious dominance (something like in later books of "Hyperion Cantos" by Dan Simmons). The story is also very good, but I was delighted by the ending: I really didn't see it coming.

On the other hand, I am wishing it had a bit more meat, because the last part feels a bit rushed.

"The God Engines" is a very good novella and I would recommend it to everyone, SF fan or not. But I wouldn't recommend buying it: borrow it or buy it in some larger collection.

Book review: "Aristoi" by Walter Jon Williams

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


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

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


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


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


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

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

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

Movie review: "The Avengers"

This weekend my girlfriend and I went to movies to watch "The Avengers". Not her first choice, but neither she was really against it. I intentionally did not want to go last weekend, hoping to avoid the biggest crowds. In the end, we were both satisfied. I have been following "The Avengers" hype for some time, although passively - I like super-hero franchises, but I am not really a fan. So I knew what to expect of the movie and it turned out I was pretty realistic in my expectations.

"The Avengers" is a movie that combines and continues several movies starring super-heroes: Iron-Man (watched both and liked), Thor (watched and liked), Captain America (didn't watch, heard it was not good), Hulk (didn't watch) and Black Widows and Hawkeye (don't have movies). It also features the agency S.H.I.E.L.D., which was mentioned and played parts in mentioned movies. The plot is pretty simple: S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tampering with some alien artifact called Teserakt and accidentally freed Loki (a villain from "Thor" movie), with a little bit of help from his new allies, Chitauri. He steals the Teserakt, abducts some scientist and agents and escapes in unknown direction with nothing good on his mind. In reaction, S.H.I.E.L.D. gathers restarts the Avengers initiative, which has a goal of centering all Earth's superheroes and ally them against common foe. They are later joined with Thor who comes to Earth to put his brother Loki to order. Considering their strength, the Avengers should not have any trouble defeating Loki, except two tinny problems: they have to find out what Loki's plan is, and they have to overcome their own differences (which are pretty big).

This movie takes after "Iron Man 2" in atmosphere - flashy, fast, lots of high-tech gadgets, much of ironic banter. As I said, it is not a plot-driven movie. Although it lasts more than two hours, it is all about characters, and some about the setting. This means that it is mostly oriented to those who like the franchises and will be able to disregard weak plot. To me, it also looked like they wanted to introduce the setting and prepare the field for the second Avengers movie or other connected movies. Characters were interesting enough, and humor was quite good and successful.

In my opinion, the only flaw of the movie was the weakness of the enemies. Loki was more of a daze and confuse mind-bending player, so it OK if he is physically week (even though he is a god). But I really expected much more from the Chitauri, considering how they were announced and referenced. Also, the ending reminded me much of "The Transformers 3" trailer I saw (didn't see the movie, yet).

All in all, "The Avengers" is a standard super-hero movie multiple several times (considering all the big-name super-heroes). If you like such movies, you will love it. Even if you don't, the movie has a bit of everything to offer: humor, action, Scarlett Johansson for guys, Chris Hemsworth for girls... Just don't expect some plot-heavy intelligent drama, and you will not be disappointed - because this is THE super-hero movie.

Movie review: "The Hunger Games"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anime review: "Steins Gate"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movie review: "Knowing"

This Saturday I watched the 2009 movie "Knowing", with Nicholas Cage. I don't usually like Cage's movies, but I got this movie accidentally and the IMDB description looked good, so I watched it with my girlfriend. While watching it, I remembered that actually a friend recently recommended it to me, but I forgot the name.

The movie starts a bit like a horror. During the 1950s, kids in some US school are tasked with drawing a picture that will be put in a time-capsule which will be opened 50 years from then. One kid, Lucinda, instead writes a full page of numbers and places it in the capsule. Later she is found in some store-room, scratching doors with her bloody fingernails and screaming "Make them stop whispering!!" (or something like that)...

In present time, John (Nicholas Cage), a university professor of astrophysics, obtain this paper after his son receives it from the time capsule. Intrigued be the number, he discovers that numbers are dates of big accidents, with number of deaths in them. Worse, he founds that there are three more accidents in future!

Story is pretty good. Later it takes an unexpected turn toward SF, but this works very well. The suspense is done quite good, although you will probably be able to guess the ending.

I didn't like John's character very much (as usually, Cage's characters are always tragic, heroic or something else exceptional - he is a smug person, in my opinion), but neither was he annoying. Other characters are also OK, but nothing special. Whole movie is moderate in general, except the story and the sense of suspense which elevates it from the mass.

In short, "Knowing" is quite a good movie for an evening-watch, except if you for some reason hate SF. A bit of action, drama and lots of mystery, that can leave you a bit pondering.

Manga review: "Blame!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movie review: "Cloverfield"

Almost a week ago, I watched "Cloverfield". I didn't know much about movie, although I remembered that I made a fuss when it was first out. I also knew that it had something with either aliens or monsters, invading some big city, and that it was made from first-person perspective, with "amateur" camera.

It turned out I was mostly right. "Cloverfield" uses POV-mode made popular by "The Blair Witch Project", giving impression of being filmed by amateurs, while in the midst of action. And action is this movie consists of group of people running from their lives. Group of young people (twenties, by the look of it) gather around on goodbye-party for Rob, who is leaving for Japan. Hud, Rob's best friend gets a task of filming everything and making interviews with attendants. Except Rob's problems with his ex- or wanna-be girlfriend Beth, everything is going fine until something crashes in New York and starts a city-spanning panic. Rob, Hud and several other characters comes to edge of salvation, only to go back to save Beth in midst of alien invasion.

Most of the movie is great. It has a slow introduction, you are just starting to know the characters, party is starting to cool down, when action bangs wildly. Group of friends wondering, running, sudden attacks, a fateful decision... Unfortunately, it's hard to keep this level of intension for whole movie. Near to end, you get used to it, and what were once heroic decision and actions, now look like fool's moves. Also, things are getting a bit too unbelievable for at the end. In short, I didn't like last 20 minutes or so. I catch myself few times in wandering around in my head instead of really following the movie.

But as I said, most of the movie is really good. Movie easily succeeds in creating a atmosphere of mystery in the first part. Later, as we learn more about the threat, it looks very convincing. I must say that aliens are done very well. But after the part in military base, things went down for me.

Ending is ambitiously imagined and special, although it failed in making all the emotional impact in me. But I presume that lots of people will like. Actually, lots of people did like it, since this was one of hits in 2008.

"Cloverfield" is a good mystery/SF movie, although with potentially weaker ending. Nevertheless, it is a good evening watch, with much fun and action, for SF fans as much as for general audience.

Movie review: "Paul"

At Friday I stumbled on my friends watching "Paul", missing only first few minutes. I knew almost nothing about this movie, only remembering that there was some mentioning on Tor.com (this one), which I didn't read.

The movie is a light comedy, based on very simply plot: two nerds from England are traveling USA on a road-trip meet an alien. And that alien is not what they would expect: he is a cursing, smoking bastard, actually too human. Actually, all characters in the movie are "too much", over-caricaturized: two typical nerds, some hillbillies, goofy FBI agents, religious fanatics... But nevertheless, the combination is not overall or tiring, and I really enjoyed the movie.

Acting is what you would expect from comedy of this type. Paul is completely CGI, but looks almost real. There are also few cameos giving an extra-kick. I have also come to understand that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are famous, although I can't say I heard about them before.

Considering all, "Paul" is not impressive or anything to remember specially, but it has a well-guessed combination of right elements, and it provides an easy entertainment, especially for SF fans who can appreciate a good joke on themselves.

Movie review: "I am Legend"

"I am Legend" is a 2007 film starring Will Smith. Except that, I knew that there was some dog and maybe some zombies. I am not fan of zombies (Stephen King's "Cell" was good, though). I have nothing against the undead (vampires are great, Erikson T'lann Imass also), but idea of mindless violent creatures poised on eating human flesh don't struck me as brilliant of interesting. If there is "something else" behind them, that is another story...

Will Smith is almost single character in this movie, alone until last sequence of the movie. Time is immediate future (2012) and Smith plays military doctor Robert Neville. Few years before, a virus used for curing cancer showed bad side-effect (mildly said) and turned everybody into mindless zombies. By trick of fate, Neville was sparred having a singular immunity to it. He now lives alone in New York, most people dead and the rest vicious, super-fast and super-strong zombies. They are not particularly bright, but that has been changing lately. A mitigating circumstance to Neville is the fact that zombies cannot stand UV light, so they hide during the day. His only companion is a dog, one he gave his now dead daughter. We join him as he struggles for his continuous survival and for finding a cure for the virus.

As I said, I am amateur in zombie-arts, but even to me it is clear that this movie doesn't bring any new ideas and concepts to this type of movies. A plague/virus killing all, leaving only a handful of survivors struggling to survive (in this case a man and a dog). Even though, these zombies are good. They are really not something you would like to meet during the night. Fast, strong and violent. And what is more ominous, showing traces of growing intelligence and social organization.

Movie is done in a good way. We are first plunged into the middle of Neville's life, and the circumstances are then revealed in the run, with several flashbacks. His acting is solid and you easily develop empathy for him. Movie has a well guessed running, not too long, not to short. Effects are good, although zombies are evidently CGI. Plot is good, first comes the worldbuilding, then the real action, with strong ending.

All in all, "I am Legend" is a very good movie. I can't be sure what zombie-fans said when it was first screened, but it is a movie that mainstream audience can watch and enjoy. So this is definitely a recommendation...

Movie review: "V for Vendetta"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movie review: "Inception"

This weekend I watched "Inception". It was one of the most-talked-about SF movies this year, so I knew quite a lot about it. I knew that main actor was Leonardio DiCaprio and that movie was something about memory theft and implanting new memories. All of my friends that watched it said it was worth watching.

And it turns out they were right. This is one very exciting movie; it doesn't matter if you are SF fan or not - this movie is generally good. Main character is Cobb (played by DiCaprio), who is a criminal specialized in extraction of secrets from his victims' mind. His and his partner Arthur's last job is stealing information from mind of Saito, rich Japanese business man. After this job fails, it turns out it was only a test: Saito wants to hire them for something else. Although inception (implanting an idea; opposite to extraction) is considered impossible by most, Cobb decides to take the job...

First twenty minutes of the movie are very confusing: gunfights on come cruise, not much is explained, two abrupt changes of scene... But it is exciting and it only makes the audience more curious. Later in the movie all concepts are explained in much detail, but easy understandable at same time. Time in the movie is present or very close future. Although there exist advanced technology, in this case device for entering person's mind, it is not widespread. This subject is very nicely elaborated, although there were some things that confused me. I am talking about those multiple "kicking" (or dunking, I forgot which term did they exactly use for forceful waking) near the end of the movie. I think the writers got a bit confused there as well. But this was singular case; rest of the movie fits very well.

All characters get good part of the movie, so you get to know them all (cast is not super-stars, but they are all very good). After thinking about it a bit, you realize that main characters are actually bad guys. It's easy to forget it. From one side, no one is actually evil, they just have different intentions. On the other side, they are doing something equivalent to rape, maybe even worst. Maybe the director could have made this point more noticeable, but then the movie wouldn't be so likable. Cobb is definitely the main characters. Even though movie sports much of action, main theme of the movie is about the difference between dream and reality. And Cobb definitely has problems with it. Best part of the movie is that he is aware of that and he actively fights against it. I really liked the final confrontation with his wife. I must say I was surprised and impressed with maturity and clear-headedness Cobb shows while dealing with the biggest challenge of his life.

There is one more flaw I can note: action scenes in later stages of the movie get a bit boring. Even though they are done nicely, they are secondary and not in a least important to the plot. Movie wouldn't lose anything by dropping these five or ten minutes of unimportant shooting.

Never minding these two minor flaws, "Inception" is a great movie for all types (well, not kids) of audiences. It requires attention while watching it, but you will be rewarded with one of better movies of this year. A recommendation.

Movie review: "Iron Man 2"

Few days ago I unexpectedly watched "Iron Man 2". I watched the first part two years ago when it was out and I remember liking it very much. So I have been planning to watch this sequel, but somehow it never got its turn.

To summarize my impression: the movie is good if you don't start thinking about it. Let's see the good sides: nice cast (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke, to name the most famous), nice special effects (as every other super-hero movie in last few years), good comments, nice background (the Iron Man franchise)... If you sit to watch this movie with no expectations and you just want to relax without thinking, this is a good movie for that. It has a lot of easy humor, very nice action scenes and straightforward plot.

But, if you pay any attention, flaws become evident. First, Tony Stark is very far away from stark! He is a spoiled rich child in his forties, having no responsibility; the fact that he is dying doesn't excuse him. Second: I am not really knowledgeable about the Iron Man world and its characters (I watched few cartoon series when I was a kid), but I don't remember that the fact about Tony Start being Iron Man is public knowledge. Maybe I am wrong, but this confused me a bit... Third, the technology and skills of Tony Stark are just too exaggerated! His hacking, engineering, driving, you-name-it skills are really too much! And forging a nuclear reactor?!?! Forging!!!

So, if you plan to watch "Iron Man 2", don't contemplate much about it; instead, keep attention on present and you will have a nice time.