Torchwood Miracle Day Ep 2

On the whole I disliked episode one, it had moments but ultimately I felt that the show wasn't mine any more and I wasn't sure that it worked.

That said I wasn't prepared to give up on it straight away. Episode 2 felt much stronger. That's not to say things are back completely on track but I'd say it was several steps in the right direction.

Oswald Danes is creepy as hell. Everytime I see Bill Pullman on the screen I have to reach for my cushion to hide behind he creeps me out completely. You can see his character suffering from being constantly poisoned and his logic is beyond reason yet you get why he reaches some of his conclusions.

It was ace to see Dichen Lachman as an evil CIA agent and her faceoff with Gwen is awesome. I loved the not gay air steward.

I like that Jack has got to get used to a new set of circumstances and that Gwen is very much the dynamic protector.

I'm still not keen on Rex at all but Esther is kind of sweet. They feel like Tosh and Owen mk II respectively but I'm not convinced.

Lauren Ambrose as Jilly is great, she seems to be everywhere and she seems to be in on things.

For that matter, I was left speculating as to how much does Oswald know, I think its more than we currently think we do, also Jilly, she has to know more.

So overall a big improvement, but still nowhere near as good as Torchwood at its very best.

Torchwood Miracle Day

As usual I am not setting out to spoiler anyone, these are just my thoughts about the first episode of Miracle Day.

I have to confess that when I heard Torchwood was going big budget and to the USA I was sceptical, mainly because I thought although many Americans get and like what Torchwood is about they are going to bring a completely different tone to the show. Even when I heard that one of my favourite writers Jane Epsenson was involved I still had my reservations.

So last night I sat down to watch I was hoping for something better but realistically expecting something at about the level of what happened.

First off I really didn't like Rex, I didn't like him in the first scene and then I certainly despised him afterwards.  There was nothing likable about the character at all.He was arogant, he was a pretty piss poor CIA agent even if I do say so myself even after going through what his character went through.

Also shoes people! The American girl in the insane heels, you cannot run in those seriously, its not going to happen. IT threw me out of the story a little but because no one can run in those shoes. They might look nice but in that context....

Scenes that worked for me, the scenes that took place in Wales. Scenes between Jack and Gwen and any time PC Andy turned up, although make that Sergeant Andy now. Rhys was a little bit annoying. Though Gwen still has the ability to give me rage, there was so much different with the show I kind of forgave the overacting because at least it was familiar. Also Bill Pullman's character Oswald was wonderfully evil and I almost couldn't bare to watch him on screen because he made my skin crawl.

What went wrong, Rex is completely horrible, it felt too American. Too much focus on ACTION! at the expense of what are the more normal Torchwood tropes. I liked Torchwood when it was a bit silly, when there were sex aliens and ressurection gloves and hot gay 1940s servicemen. I know the game changed when we had children of Earth which was a brilliant piece of grown up sci fi. It worked I even felt that Ianto's death was a perfect piece of drama, but so far Miracle day hasn't hit my squee spot and it despite the money that's obviously been thrown at it, this feels like a game change too far.

I'll tune in next week, and probably the week after that but I hope that this episode was just a blip.

And I'll leave you with one final image which did make me laugh rather a lot.

Well that and the line, "Yes mam, I'm feeding her lard."

~Updates

Well let me see...

I've been a bit absent of late, blame it on the tonsilitis and the fact that work has been insane. If you've been reading then you'll know I've done a couple of book reviews recently but if you're more interested in what I've been reading the whole list from the last 18 months is here.  There is even a tab for you to give me some suggestions on what I should be reading in the future.

Creatively I've bitten a bullet and I've signed up to do a short course in October on creative writing.

The upside to the tonsilitis was that I caught up on a few bits and pieces. Firstly I mainlined season one of Nurse Jackie, it is one excellent show and I have enjoyed watching it muchly. I like that it is short and I love the level of insight into Jackie's character. I also adore the supporting cast with much love going to Merrit Weaver as Zoey and Stephen Wallem as Thor.

I've also been watching the BBC adaptations of the Jackson Brodie series of novels: Case Histories, When Will There be Good News and One Good Turn. All brilliantly adapted and starring Jason (Lucius Malfoy) Isaacs.  It has been Sunday night telly, but its been good sunday night telly.

We're catching up with Treme which is a great piece of television but not the easiest watch in the world.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand has also been part of the mix, have to admit a few weeks ago one of the episodes went too far for me. It went too far and I was actually tempted to drop it but after giving it a rest and letting it settle I've gone back and actually since that one off the scale gruesome episode, the rest have been much better experiences.

Haven is another series we're trying and yay. Love. It has elements of some shows I loved in the past. American Gothic and the X files and its a weird and fun little show.

I was less impressed with Bored to death, the central character is, if I'm honest a bit of a douche. The concept is good and it was beginning to improve so I'll probably stick with it.

I am mourning in my heart for the end of the first season of A Game of Thrones, I love this show so much I broke my book buying ban in a huge and not cheap way. I kind of want spring 2012 to be sooner please so that there will be more.  The show is too good. If you haven't seen it I urge you to give it a go, it is a very rewarding watch.

There is a little squee in my heart True Blood has returned and so has Dexter one of these shows I've waited paitently to be be on FX the other I haven't.

I'll try and do more regular posts. And to vary them a little bit more than I have been.

Killing Kiss

I picked up all three Vampire Gene novels at a convention I recently attended and as such I got to meet Sam Stone we got to talking about how vampires have been defanged somewhat, she reassured me that her vampires didn't sparkle and so I bought the books and have been looking forward to reading them.

And I have made a start, I've read killing kiss and it is enjoyable. First off I think this is probably one of the few urban fantasy novels that I've read that is set in the UK so that immediately gets bonus points from me. Secondly Gabriele is definitely a predator, the reader is left with no misconception that he's a pretty efficient killer.

That said, I found the character fairly easy to empathise with, as the novel fills in his backstory alternating with the contemporary one.

Lilly is a really likeable character, she's strong willed and really doesn't take any vampire crap.

The story rattles along at a good pace and is both fiercely enjoyable and rather sexy, even if I do say so myself.

I am really looking forward to reading the sequels.

Book review: Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

First my declaimer, I've read most of Joanne Harris' novels and there isn't one I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.  Blueeyedboy, is one of her finest works to date.

The theme of the novel is about the fluidity of identity and putting fingers to keyboard right now, its always been one of her signature themes.  This novel has a darker tone, it is still a playful novel, but there is a dark side to the psyches that are presented here.  As with her previous work language is used in both a skilful and playful way. The protagonist's voice, Blueeyed boy himself revels in the language that he uses. Meanings are layered and words are chopped up to subvert and enhance their meaning.

There are two narrators and the strands of story twist and knot and provide a non linear structure. The novel is also written in the form of journal entries like Live Journal and Dream Width and some of the many copies that are out there. The narrators contradict each other and as a reader you cannot trust that anything you are told is truth even in the 'private' entries. The ending is not big on closure and not everyone copes well with books like this and if you don't get on with this style of writing then move on you probably won't get much from this novel.

What I love about Blueeyedboy and Harris' work in general is her descriptive writing. Much of the narrators' ideas are explained in the language of colours and taste. I also love that as a reader you experience the same event multiple times throughout the novel from different perspectives so there isn't any one Truth but a plurality of truths.

I've seen reviewers complain that they have trouble keeping up with the changes in narrators and who don't like the fluidity of the narrative. To be honest I've got little time for these people, I don't like being spoon fed as a reader and enjoy the challenges of working things out and actively enjoy being surprised by an author.  I like that Joanne Harris is leading me up the garden path with parts of the narrative, she's so beguiling with her words that I'm happy to be lead.

The novel also resonates with me because I'm one of those users of  those journaling sites not the murky depths of  badguysrock but I understand these sites and her portrayal of them is refreshingly accurate and completely recognisable.

Awesome book.

 

Dead Reckoning - a point of view

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris       

Is the eleventh (!) book in the southern vampire mysteries.  It still revolves around Sookie Stackhouse and whereas the earlier books really engaged me to the point of obsession. Dead in the Family and Dead Reckoning both have left me somewhat cold.

I was mulling the reasons over and I came up with this conclusion: there is no mystery in these two novels. It's all character but and a lot of questions answered but really no major questions set up and no central mystery. I still liked the characters and I still wanted to find out what happened, but the urgency just wasn't there like it was in the earlier novels.

I still love Eric though, so that's all right with the world.

Badass witches and Viking vampires

Writiing is kind of hard for me to do at the moment, energy is no where but there are some diversions in the form of the books I've been reading. Oh dear I've been a bit remiss at reviewing what I've read but things have come into alignment for the first time in an age and so I'll bring you up to speed on where I've been escaping to.
 
To be honest reading lost momentum, doing a show does that to you. So it took far longer than it should to complete Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Which was a shame as it's a corking read,  even if it is somewhat at odds with it's cover.  The tone of the cover is that the witch concerned is a complete badass which would be totally fine, but the novel is pitched in a softer way.  Rachel can be all butt kick but there's also a lot of worrying and no small amount of stupid decisions.
 
the novels are good fun though and the second has enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, I'm always wring in whodunits and there are genuine surprises in the novels.
 
I like the universe that's been created, I love then idea that vamps wws witches and other mythical creatures had to 'come out' after a genetic accident wiped out half the human population some really awesome ideas IMO.
 
I am also looking forward to resuming the series once I've finished my next book. This is the first book I've bought in about 12 months. I know right? However, I have special dispensation to buy books which are really important to me.  At the top of this list is Terry Pratchett novels and then if JK Rowling decides to publish ever again I'll probably be there and then there are the books which got me into the urban fantasy genre themselves. The southern vampire mysteries.  My friend gave me the first 6 which I inhaled in about a fortnight then ordered then next two from amazon second hand and then bought the following two brand new, in hardback for the final one.
 
This one Dead Reckoning I actually preordered and had delivered to my little home.
 
I am currently one chapter deep and I have really missed fictional Eric. I love vikings.