Well I heard some news today which made me a very happy fangirl

Jamie Bamber's been cast in new Ronald D Moore show called 17th Precinct.

It get's better Michael Rymer will direct so its a very BSG thing going on.

A supernatural police procedural apparently which basically gives me the horn in no uncertain terms. Add in Stockard Channing and I'm so excited.

Have some links:
http://www.tvline.com/2011/02/jamie-bamber-reunites-ron-moore-nbc-17th-precinct/
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2011/02/15/jamie-bamber-to-star-in-ron-moores-magical-crime-drama-17th-precinct/

To celebrate here's a picture of JB in a towel.

Books: Succubus Nights and Succubus Dreams

Succubus Nights

Having had an attack of the meh's about the first novel, the second took me by surprise with just how good it was.  Far more entertaining and it seemed to hang together better.  It started to address some of the flaws that the first book had and it was good.   Georgina Kincaid was less irritating and supah speshal and was far more likable.

The pacing was good and I really enjoyed.

Succubus Dreams

With good vibes from the second book I really looked forward to the third one, and was disappointed. 
Maybe it's like Star Trek films and only the even number books are entertaining.

What got me, was the lead character's attitude and the drama she generates.  Obviously the protagonist has to generate drama but meh it didn't do it for me.  I found her annoying and in a number of ways incredibly selfish.

Also the relationship with Seth. IDEK I can only assume that Richelle Mead thought that the readers would think it sweet that Seth Calls her Thetis and in a way it is a creature from mythology who was a shape shifter and so is she. But I've been on the recieving end of someone bestowing a new name upon me and it wasn't done to be sweet, it was done to manipulate and control.

I don't think the relationship was written particularly well.



So for reading the first three books in the series I'm unlikely to read any more.

Book: Succubus Blues By Richelle Mead

In some ways I hate starting a new series of novels, I get submerged into the rules of that universe and I get miffed when I then have to change the rules. Silly I know but there you are. It’s me being lazy.

So I was coming at Succubus Blues from a disadvantage. The good news is that by the end of the novel I’d been more won round the bad news was it took me a while.

The premise is that Georgina Kincaid is a Succubus; she is not the demon you would expect, she’s actually kind of good and a lot tired of seducing good men to get her fix. There is her crux, by setting her sights on morally dubious men she doesn’t get her fix or not to the same extent. Enter Seth, her favourite author and all round good egg. He’s a really nice stable guy and she likes him but there’s the whole OMG-I-CAN’T-SLEEP-WITH-HIM-LEST-I-KILL-HIM! Thing. There are also other interests, Roman for instance.

Coupled with her predicament there is also the mystery, someone is killing immortals but who.

I don’t do spoilers, so I’ll stop talking about the plot and get on with things. If I’m honest the set up is more than a little cheesy. Georgina is a little bit of a Mary-Sue. The thing that I think makes me roll my eyes is the whole supahspeshal thing. Sure she’s a succubus and with her current morality it makes it hard for her.

But she’s surrounded by men, all of whom fancy her a bit, even her vampire friends, which is a by product of being a succubus, there are very few women in the book, none of them are characterised fully apart from Georgina.

Don’t let it put you off, it’s a perfectly adequate novel which was enjoyable to read, its just I do get somewhat irked at things like this.

A Pact with the darkside

I think I might have sold my soul to the devil. And the Devil is Rupert Murdoch. Sky Atlantic is going to be my drug of choice in the evenings from now on I can feel it.

D'arvit.

Last night it opened with Boardwalk empire and the slow burning saga started. A lot going on, almost too much to take in really. Enoch Thompson is established as the centre of the piece and then there were a whole bunch of subplots being woven around him. Mrs Shroedder with her abusive husband. The guy who looks like a young Leonardo Di Caprio. Then there are loads of historical references with other proto gangsters turning up.

The slow pace allowed for a decent set up. But I feel a little like there was almost too much story and it also felt over long with countless adverts.

After that was Blue Bloods which is a cop drama starring Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg in a kind of dynasty about new york cops. It was a pretty good pilot with an interesting twist in the first episode and many questions set up.

The shows that Sky Atlantic are showing are just awesome and I can't help but get excited... 

Outcasts

This week we had our first look at Jamie Bamber in Outcasts.



My thoughts, wow, this is a bit of a departure for Mr Bamber, Mitchell seems to be one hell of a bad ass. Much more so that Apollo ever was, not so scrappy doo as Matt Devlin.  I can't wait to see the show and find out.

Theatre: The Last 5 Years

Tonight we went to see Starshowcase's production of The Last 5 Years at theatre severn in Shrewsbury.

The staging was simple, a composite set with different areas for different scenes.  This worked really well until the midway point when they flew in an outdoorsy scene which looked as though it was borrowed from a panto.  It just jarred with the rest of the setting which was very simplistic.

Jamie was played by Chris Jenkins and he was very convincing as the talented young writer travelling forward through the relationship. I loved his voice and the seemingly boundless energy that he brought to the role.  Cathy was played by Kirsty Francis, she too had a striking voice and she was great at the emotional elements to the role as well as having a cheeky look which was totally endearing.

The dynamic of the musical is that it is the story of a relationship with Jamie travelling through the relationship from start to finish and Cathy starts at the end and travels backwards. 

So apart from a couple of teeny tiny blips this was a great production. My major complaint was as the people of Shropshire who did not turn out to see what is a fab piece of contemporary musical theatre the auditorium was depressingly empty. We took my parents who definitely enjoyed it though they were surprised at the lack of an interval.

If you get the chance go see it.

Book: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

This book is epic, in all senses of the word.

Epic in scope, in length as a journeyman tale and the fact it features certain Norse deities.

It was a satisfying read, there were patterns which weave and present themselves in such ways which are so clever and you get to feel quite clever when you've worked them out. Well you do if you're me.

My main reservation is that I was quite underwhelmed by the novel.  I wonder that it is a tad overhyped.  It is beautifully written, but I didn't get sucked in, I couldn't quite believe and that made me sad because of all the books I want to believe in I wanted it to be this one.

Maybe I missed something, but I found it lacked something.

It's also long and on occasion there is a long long way between chapters which doesn't complement my style of reading. I still think its a good book, it just didn't get me burning up with the degree of enthusiasm I thought it would.

My next book is Richelle Mead's Succubus Blues