I want to make it clear though, I am not against a soundtrack. Far from it. Some of my favourite shows and movies are made by the epicness of the music they employ.
But when you take the same one or two pieces and cram them in at every opportunity, it tends to get more than a little repetitive.
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
A book of two halves this one. It starts well by engaging in the narrative of Robert the Bruce's victory at Bannockburn and how that was not the end of the first war of independence as well as highlighting how the Bruce was quite the unsavoury character. This good start is continued into the reigns of David II and Edward III, with the battle at Hallidon Hill, the Scottish earls doing a good job in maintaining the power of the former against the English-backed Edward Balliol and the latter becoming increasingly distracted by his ambitions in France.
However, that good start comes to a screeching halt as the author allows his academic training to get the better of him as he throws himself headlong into the background and make up of feudal armies in the 14th century. I am not saying that there is no room for such detail - to leave it out would be tantamount to admitting you think your readers are idiots - but to lump all together in two chapters half way through the narrative when David II returned to Scotland was a big mistake. It killed the narrative deader than the schiltrons killed the English charge at Bannockburn.
Such information should be either gently sprinkled amongst the narrative or placed at the beginning with the background to the conflict.
Another problem is that the book just ends. No real epilogue or even a decent discussion of what happened in the years after Neville's Cross and the 'abdication' of Balliol.
This book does see me wanting to read more about the period, but not necessarily in a good way. It is a case of wanting to read something better rather then just more.
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
Another book read in its entirety for my own writing. In some ways this is not really a book rather a collection of source material brought together in an attempt to paint a narrative picture of the first 140 years of Romano-Persian interactions but with 400 pages of exerts and copious footnotes expertly arranged, I am more than inclined to include it.
The only thing is that this leaves very little/too much for me to comment on... I am hardly going to mention all the written or archaeological sources quoted and cited but without doing that, there is nothing much else to say.
Still Dodgeon and Lieu have done an excellent job and I am most grateful for what is a must read/use for anyone looking to write or learn about the subject.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2.C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
This is another of the 'not sure I ever watched it all' movies in my 2watch pile. I think I liked the movie itself more than TGTBTU.
Once again, it has an epic soundtrack (which was not quite as overused as in its successor) and it expertly shot. It followed the same lay out of introducing the main characters - Mortimer, Manco and Indio - before then gradually bringing them together for a final showdown.
Not sure that the revenge mission for Mortimer was quite as coherent as it could have been - if he was out to get Indio from the start then why was he bothering with all these other bounties instead of just going to the prison where Indio was held? I also think that it is about 15-20 mins too long. I did not think that there was much need for the extended prelude to the finale - just have the Manco and Mortimer's plan work perfectly rather than go to the bother of having their cover blown.
The final showdown with the music box/watch music was tremendous.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
Originally, this was a series of ten short novellas, although this edition has seen them stitched together as the story of the arrival of the Lost Tribe on Kesh, their initial conquests, descent into chaos and then reunification in the face of new lands to conquer over the course of 2,000 years.
Whilst it being under the banner of Star Wars, there really is an interesting story being tangled with here - what would happen if a group of 300 people from a technologically advanced but racist society were suddenly thrust back in time to live amongst a different, technologically inferior but numerically superior race? That is essentially what is being told here. The Sith need to control the native population given their dark side proclivities but even their strength in the force cannot overcome millions of native Keshiri. So what do they do? Much like the upper classes have done for millennia, they turned to religion and the manipulation of history to control the masses, presenting themselves as the Skyborn heralds of the heavenly Protectors sent to Kesh to save it from the hellish Destructors.
Eerily familiar.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2.C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
This was a film I thought I had seen most of except for the opening few scenes; however, as I continued to watch I realised that I had barely seen any of it.
For being twenty years old, this holds up remarkably well. You can see where there were some issues at its original release with the glorification of violence and murder, but that is clearly one of the points that Taratino is trying to make in making celebrities out of ruthless killers. Indeed, the 'reality' and cult of celebrity sides to NBK is perhaps far closer to the reality of today than perhaps even the warped mind of QT might have imagined.
The captivation of the audience as Mickey talks absolute bollocks (aside from his incisive remarks about Robert Downey Jnr's instantly hateable Aussie host) in his sit down interview is like holding up a mirror to large amounts of today's 'reality' television.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
This would have been very useful for one of the essays I had to do at university on the development of history writing in Latin.
As a more casual read though, it was pretty hard going at times. Certain sections are so consumed by the minutiae of how and what these ancient writers are saying that it largely confines itself to those who are looking for some specific piece of information about the author. But even then, it does not go all the way into the full treatment that it feels like the authors of the work wanted. The sheer number of footnotes in some of the sections - 150 per 30 pages - is mind-blowing/numbing.
However, there are some intriguing sections such as Tacitus on Tiberius. It has also provided me with a couple of good quotations about history writing so it definitely was not a complete loss.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
I had long been interested in watching this given its reputation and I can definitely see where it gets it from.
It tries too hard to be Donnie Darko and is so off the wall that it becomes incoherent with increasingly pointless threads that go virtually nowhere and rather than tying most things up like in Darko, the time travel is largely meaningless. Maybe that is the point but it doesn't make for particularly entertaining viewing.
36. The Road
I was glad to see a post-apocalyptic story actually remain bleak throughout. And bleak would be an understatement.
Most Hollywood stories focus on the survival of a single family/individual but the Road makes it abundantly clear that in the long run, there is no survival. No light at the end of the tunnel. Just years of drudgery, fear and hunger until a cannibal, a disease or starvation gets you.
It could have done with a better reason for the abandoning of the food-stocked bomb shelter, although I did like the intimation that it was the "good guy family" and their dog that had encouraged the Man to flee from the shelter.
It also took me a good few minutes to recognise that Ely was played by Robert Duval.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)[/QUOTE]
3. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
Richard Kelly - i.e. the writer/director of Donnie Darko, Southland Tales and The Box - has climbed farther and farther up his own arse with each subsequent film. Southland Tales was an enjoyable mess with a charismatic cast; The Box is bloated and baffling and frustrating. Considering The Box is based on a clever and succinct short story, that's some special sort of irony.
Supposedly he has another film due out this year, titled Amicus. Joy of joys.
Richard Kelly - i.e. the writer/director of Donnie Darko, Southland Tales and The Box - has climbed farther and farther up his own arse with each subsequent film. Southland Tales was an enjoyable mess with a charismatic cast;
I would almost say that Southland Tales is saved from total disaster by the over-the-top-ness of its cast. John Larroquette as the PA somehow at ease with the chaotic nonsense going on around him; Cheri Oteri being generally insane and The Rock flitting between his usual bad ass to finger-steepling amnesiac was just enough to keep me interested. I actually wanted to see more of Jon Lovitz's racist cop.
It was also nice to know that everyone in California is an idiot.
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
Yet another of the areas of the history of the Star Wars galaxy embarked upon. This one is really out there - 25,000 years before the A New Hope and before the galaxy has a Republic or even a Jedi Order. Indeed, this book is about the emergence of the latter and how they are quite different to the more recognisable proponent of the Light side. These Jedaii, as they are called on Tython, look to maintain a balance between the Light and Dark within themselves, so they recognise the usefulness of the Dark Side and do not shun it as their successors in the Jedi Order do.
It has been established for quite some time in the EU that the Jedi emerged from the planet Tython, which was very difficult to get to due to the hyperspace anomalies in the Deep Core, but I could have done with more information specifically about the background of the Tython system itself (which claims another 10,000 years of history). Why are there so many different species there? Human, Sith, Wookie, Cathar, Sel'kath, Twilek. Are they supposed to be indigenous or did they get their by accident or by someone else's design.
I will be interested to see how the upcoming war between the Infinite Empire of the Rakatan and the 'Jedaii' pans out and fits into the areas of the EU that are already established such as the rediscoveries by Revan and Malak in KOTOR. However, such a major event as the opening of the Tython system and the Jedi to the wider galaxy needed to have something more to do with the story told in this book. I think that there was a perfect opportunity to make it so with the aims of Dalrien Brock, the Gree technology, and the hypergate - perhaps something goes wrong and messes with subspace allowing for hyperspace travel to the system.
Instead we get the appearance of the Rakatan vessel tacked on at the end and the adventures of Lanoree Brock and Tre Sana being detached from what is really the main story.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
This was a strange Bond - it captured the atmosphere of the places it involved extremely well and I thought Moore showed off the suave sophisticated Bond well too, even if the killer that was Connery's Bond is missing.
And yet it is one of those outings that proves that as a secret agent, James Bond is absolutely useless - he walks into several traps, showing no awareness of his situation, and spends the entire film escaping death through luck and the ineptitude of the villains and in chases. On top of that, the plot really is flimsy and the villain is introduced rather strangely when it is relying on the connection between and reveal of Mr Big as Katanga, not to mention the complete rip off of the last scene in From Russia With Love.
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
This is an extremely well-written book on the adventures of a blaggart, Edward Chapman - the only Brit to win the German Iron Cross.
It was also interesting to see his potential influences on the character of James Bond due to Chapman's friendship with Terence Young, director of Dr No and From Russia With Love and even the possible mention of Ian Fleming at one stage.
At times though, it seems like the writer and perhaps even the secret services of Britain, Germany and other participants were operating in their own little world, thinking that every mission or bluff, no matter how small, had earth-shattering consequences. Chapman got elevated to a level that his achievements by 1942 do not seem to warrant - by both sides!
The Germans may have thought that Chapman was hard at work blowing up factories, stealing plans and relaying information but what did the British get out of Zigzag? Either there was little done with the information that Chapman brought back about Abwehr operations and personnel by MI5, there is little record or the writer has not espoused much about it.
Of those missions and bluffs mentioned, only the likes of Operations Mincemeat and Fortitude seem to have had any major results in diverting German attention from the landings in Sicily and Normandy respectively - but then in a covert world, only small victories can really be won so as to not reveal the root of the deception if that root is to be used again.
Still, this is well worth a read.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
4. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
After all those Star Wars novels, I had to give some time over to the other half of the Star Alliance (this is just the first after taking advantage of some rather poor pricing from my favourite book shop four books for a £1 you say?)
What better way to start than the Star Trek entry in the usually interesting and well-produced Brief Guide/History series? This provides an excellent overview of how the original series of Star Trek came about and progressed through its TV run and eventually onto the big screen through the interesting story of the zombie production of Star Trek: Phase II.
It drops off on detail with the advent of The Next Generation, which I think is treated rather poorly, and beyond though and personally, I think there is a little too much bashing of the post-TNG shows, although the author clearly has a soft spot for DS9. Not the biggest fan of it myself, although the Dominion War was stellar, even if (or perhaps because) it strayed from Roddenberry's utopian view of future humanity.
Even if TNG is my favourite (firmly in the Picard camp rather than Kirk), I have always had a soft spot for Voyager, mainly because it was the first Star Trek show I watched from start to finish the first time it aired. While I do agree with some of the criticisms regarding the lack of character development for most of the crew and the missed opportunities to add detail and internal conflict - the integration of the Maquis and later the Equinox, Tom Paris being a rebel, adding Delta Quadrant people beyond Neelix and Kes to the crew - and that the show relied far too much on the reset button at the end of every episode - there was a real opportunity to tap into the grungy sci-fi that the remade Battlestar Galactica pulled off so well and Stargate Universe to a lesser extent, I think the author allows those criticisms and the lack of viewership, as much to do with "franchise fatigue," to skew the actual retelling of the quality of the show.
So what if Voyager started using too much of the Borg? They are one of the best villains in sci-fi history and Voyager was travelling through their home galaxy at the time Plus there were several top-notch stories, which admittedly the author does mention - the Year of Hell and Equinox were excellent as was the introduction of Species 8472/Undine, Seven of Nine, the Borg, the Hirogen and the liberated holograms.
Even the much maligned Enterprise involved numerous excellent stories, episodes, peoples and interactions with the past shows - the Klingon and Human Augments, Commander Shran, human xenophobia in the aftermath of the Xindi attack and the Xindi themselves being perhaps the most interesting people since the original introductions of the Vulcans, Romulans and Klingons.
The author also puts a little too much blame on the makers of the shows, even when he mentions on several occasions that it was Paramount that shot down revolutionary ideas such as using Voyager's Year of Hell as an entire season, Enterprise wanted to explore the Romulan War before cancellation and that DS9 produced its best stuff when studio attention was diverted elsewhere.
Much like with Star Wars and its Expanded Universe, I think this book tows the main canon line too much. One of the main reasons that both Star Wars and Star Trek survived, even thrived in periods where its tv/film production was weak or non-existent is due to the vast amount of stories written in novel, novella and comic series. It would be nice to see these get more than a passing mention.
Still, this was a good introduction to the vast universe of Star Trek, especially the first half about the original three seasons of Kirk, Spock and Bones.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
While it was interesting to see the original inspiration for the Kobayahsi Maru test that James T. Kirk cheated on, this novel really is a bit of a mess with a few largely redundant sections at various points.
Really the story is a rehash of the late Enterprise episodes where the Romulans are looking to destabilise the burgeoning Federation with their holographic camouflaged ship, only this time with a remote hijacker to commandeer Starfleet, Vulcan and Klingon vessels. The sheer fact that Starfleet refused to believe that the Romulans might try such a thing, after having already tried such a thing, and despite two independent sources of information was completely unrealistic. Surely someone beyond the Enterprise would have said to themselves, "Gee, the Romulans did this before; maybe they will do this again.
No, we'll just blame the Klingons, who had no history of such subterfuge. Oh, and while we are at it, let's introduce a gay Klingon in passing.
However, by far the worst part of this book and indeed likely of all the Enterpirse novels set after the end of the show, is the 'resurrection' of Trip Tucker. Sure, his death in the show was horrendously tacked on but to retcon it that he, Archer, Phlox and Reed faked his death for the purposes of him, an engineer, becoming a spy is just ludicrous. As are the time frames involved - in only a few months, this engineer with no previous experience in spycraft has become proficient in Romulan language (hiding his southern US drall), customs and technology, despite information on the Romulans being scarce, infiltrated the hierarchy of a top secret Romulan research project, been found out but not killed on at least two occasions with very little reasoning given. Complete garbage.
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
This was a strange one, not because it isn't good, because it is but because it floats somewhat in that no man's land between academic and popular.
Now, there most definitely is a niche in there - "academically researched for popular consumption" - but the author does not seem to fully commit to such a niche. He clearly knows his stuff about Constantine and has a good grasp of how to make history sound interesting, but he doesn't do enough to present it for a large chunk of his audience.
There were two or three interesting anecdotes or academic suggestions that I wanted to use for my own writing but it was difficult to find where the author got them from in the mass of bibliographical essays (I hate them). Just put it into endnotes, where they are nicely out of the way of people who do not want them but easily accessed for those who want more.
I would also argue that it is not strictly a biography of Constantine as the author spends as much time ruminating on the ideology of power and faith in the Roman Empire in the run up to and in the early years of its Christianisation. There is also perhaps not enough on the military career of Constantine, especially given that he came to power through his military victories and greatly changed a significant part of the Roman army and its strategy.
Still, this is well worth a read and even without a good endnotes section could easily find its way onto an academic reading list for students as a starting point.
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
This is the first of a series of seven Star Trek novels that seemingly spans the length and breadth of the Star Trek galaxy and timeline (aside from Enterprise and the new movies, which were not made at the time of writing).
The story meshes really well with the TOS episode "That Which Survives," picking up exactly where that episode ends with the crew transporting back to the ship. Even if you are not familiar with the episode (I can't say that I remembered it), you can see pretty quickly that the episode left a lot unexplained/unexplored regarding the Kalandan station. I mean Kirk and co. were hardly going to leave such a vast and powerful space station to float in deep space, were they?
Now, stranded on the station (for a perfectly acceptable and logical reason) the Enterprise and her crew have to uncover some its secrets in order to first save themselves and then to deal with the queue of scavengers drawn to the station by the vast power it has emanated during the events of the original episode and now looking to appropriate it for nefarious ends.
The book is not overly long, but I felt that it was worked well as an opening and captured much of the feel of the Original Series. Looking forward to continuing on.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)[/QUOTE]
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
I could do with watching a few movies...
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
This is a strange one for while the previous book in the series ended in a cliffhanger, this second book does not pick up on that cliff; and that same thing happens in at the end of this one and the beginning #3. Clearly, there is some big convergence of cliffs coming in a later entry in the series.
As for this book, it grew on me as it went on. I thought the beginning was rather poor as it either assumed a lot of knowledge on the part of the reader or just did not give any details on either of the two landscapes involved. I can understand leaving the Living and Anointed as a mystery as who they are is an important discovery but I felt that virtually treating Commander Nick Keller, the Challenger, her crew and her surroundings in the same way was something of a mistake. There are things that are constantly talked about - Gamma Night for example - but never fully explained, while the origin of the Challenger and Keller's mission with the Blood and Kauld should have been made more clear from the off rather than gradually revealing it.
I did enjoy the 'clash of civilisations' interactions between Keller and Shucorion, particularly with how Keller finally gets through to him over the accusation of treason.
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
I read The Exorcist, the fortieth anniversary revision, because it's nearly Halloween and I'll be going to see the film, the only film with the power to scare me, on that night.
Not an awful book - and I burned through it in just two days, which is unusual for me - but being in on the characters' thoughts can be maddening. "Gee, Regan's sure acting odd! Her face has completely changed, she's been *********ing with crucifixes and she's now voiced by James Earl Jones. Maybe it's psychological." That I can sort of buy. "Only she's demonstrated telekinesis and telepathy. Also, she's got a long, furry tongue. Could just be teenage angst. After all, telekinesis and telepathy are definitely proven things and not as bollocks as demonic possession*."
That kind of movie really can lose something in the translation to text. Or in this case gain something in the translation to the big screen, especially when it comes to horror and mystery.
Not knowing what people are thinking can give an extra layer of intrigue/fear.
It is this kind of thing that has helped something like Game of Thrones translate well to the screen - unlike the reader, the viewer does not know what many of the characters are thinking as it is not presented in a POV manner. Also, the viewer does not have to deal with the pseudo-spoilers that come with such POV presentation - the reader knows with an almost certainty that the POV characters are not ehind any of the on-going plots as they have been inside their head (although this applies more earlier on in the story when several main characters were not POV - Jaime, Cersei etc).
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
As with Fort Apache, I really only bought this due to having recently been in Monument Valley, this time transported from Utah to west Texas for this film. John Ford's classic cinematography continues to marvel with the depth of colour and staggering landscapes.
Having said that, I was somewhat disappointed in various parts of the story-telling. The first fifteen minutes are very clunky and feel like they were thrown together.
I had also heard that this was one of John Wayne's more accomplished acting roles and at times there was some hint of that but the idea that Ethan Edwards was just a violent racist under all of his bravado is not explored in any great detail and near the end seems to be overtaken by a want to kill Debbie, which I took as Ethan wanting the land left to her by her father rather than any idea of her deserving it for having gone native.
And then at the finale, he has a total change of heart (as does Debbie about escaping the Commanche) completely out of the blue.
Also the timeframe of a fiver year search for Debbie didn't make all that much sense to me. There is little explanation of what Ethan and Marty do during these long months and years (aside from riding relentlessly around Monument Valley). The suggestion that has been made by critics that Ethan may indeed be Debbie's father might be an attempt to explain the long search and the uneasy interactions between Ethan and Martha, plus the seeming lack of knowledge of Debbie's existence when Ethan first arrives back at the homestead.
It remains a good film but I feel that it could have done with a little more care in its editing and more exploration of the major themes involved.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales
This did not waste any time in getting started with the setting up of Wales' revenge mission all before the title sequence, complete with a montage of him teaching himself to shoot and then a utilising of the sequence itself to further the story.
I would say that the idea of revenge is somewhat sidelined rather early on - you could argue that that is an inconsistency (the attempted portrayal of Fletcher as a traitor to the Bushwackers is seemingly forgotten), although it could also be argued that being taken down from a war footing allowed Josey Wales the farmer to begin to re-establish himself over the vengeful marauder and outlaw; plus that he gained some measure of revenge with the Gatling gun. Indeed, aside from that early incident, there is very little that Wales' does that would be construed as 'outlaw behaviour.' It is the men he comes across and who are chasing him who are acting as outlaws, despite the latter being government sanctioned.
From the look of the film, I would never have said that it was released nearly 40 years ago, although I did start to flag somewhat during the penultimate act.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
Currently Reading
1. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
2. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
3. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
42. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
In this third instalment, connections are made with the events of the first book, and again we have a major character entering an Iconian gateway in the finale. It also sees the return to recognisable characters once more with the TNG crew of the Enterprise and numerous well-known aliens - angry Klingons, sneaky Romulans, dinosaur Gorn, bumhead Ferengi.
I did like the brief excursuses to various planets to show the increasing trouble that the gateways could cause, first with groups and peoples taking advantage of them, then with people ending up in dangerous places or their presence having adverse affects and then finally with the potential physical trouble that the gateways can have in draining power from planets and stars. Usually that kind of danger is just implied, but the author actually goes out of his way to demonstrate it, which goes a long way to show that this is a galactic problem, potentially far worse than the recently concluded Dominion War.
The battle between the Iconians and the Federation-led coalition was well done as it attempted to impart some idea of the strategies and tactics that could be involved in space battle.
If I had a criticism, it would be that quite a bit of time is spent with various characters talking, thinking, almost fawning over how much of a legend Jean-Luc Picard is. I understand that he is highly respected by all sides, but there is no need to remind me of it in every chapter from every possible angle and point of view. Perhaps the author is trying to tell us his answer to the recurring Star Trek question of "Kirk or Picard"?
43. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
This is a dense read, so much so that if I had not been listening to it as an audiobook, I very much doubt that I would have gotten through it all. However, that would have been to my detriment as Peter Brown remains a master of his craft, with a writing style that few ancient historians have ever matched. He also proves himself capable of interacting with a vast array of primary material, the kind that few people, myself included, have ever looked at in any detail.
Because of that, I will still likely get a physical copy of it in the long run as it will be an extremely useful research tool for me. There are also numerous events and persons I had never heard of before, many of whom reinforced the notion that several of the woes faced by the western Roman state in the fifth century were in no small part due to the growing influence and presence of the Christian Church and its bishops, particularly when the rich began to give their fortunes to the church despite having markedly refused to aid the state in times of crisis.
Now, doctrine and the church told them that they should be using their wealth for good deeds such as giving to the poor but in so doing both the rich and the church were failing to see the big picture. Had they instead been more proactive in helping the state and the army maintain control of the western provinces then there might have been anywhere near the number of displaced poor needing their charity and government structures of relief, such as the grain fleets of Africa and the annona may have been able to continue the job of feeding the poor, which it had done rather successfully (in Rome anyway) for centuries.
As the author himself mentions in the introduction the problem with the dates in the title and I think it is a problem that he never really came to grips with. He talks about Constantine I (306-337) and Constantius II (337-361) and frequently goes beyond 550. Maybe "the Making of Christianity in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Century West" might have been a better dating system, although this does not take anything away from the work.
44. K.R.A. DeCandido Star Trek: Gateways #4 Demons of Air and Darkness (2001)
We now move on to the DS9 portion of the Gateways Crisis, complete with some rather nice overlap with the events of the previous book as they take place at the same time.
As well as tapping into the same familiarity of characters that the TNG edition involved, this book also does well with the continued troubles of gateways linking random places - displacing peoples, spreading disease and causing environmental diseases and diplomatic incidents.
At times, I find the interacting of so many peoples a little too slapdash and tacked on, cramming in as many recognisable faces, particularly the involving of the Delta Quadrant races featured in Voyager with the use of Malon and the admittedly awesome Hirogen. At least though in this series, the involvement of the Malon has been used as a major part of the story - polluting the atmosphere of Europa Nova with their theta radiation; not like the use of the Delta Quadrant in the Destiny saga where the Hirogen were featured just for the sake of featuring the Hirogen, no storyline involvement or real reason for the Enterprise to have had to deal with them.
In the DS9 specifics, I liked the feeling of continuation but also change. There is no Sisko, Worf, O'Brien or Odo (yet?) but Kira Nerys, Ezri Dax, Quark, Bashir and Nog all remain while the introduction of old hand, Elias Vaughan is a welcome one in the face of so many young officers, while another new face on the station is also a recognisable one in Ro Laren. The presence of the Andorian Shar was also welcome for despite being a Federation of numerous peoples, Starfleet does not have enough obviously alien officers - too many "pinkskins."
Particularly, I found the presence of the Jem H'dar observer, Taran'atar (even if his name does sound like a name a child would give to a dinosaur) an extreme positive. It shows an acceptance that the galaxy has changed since the Dominion War, rather than just have things go back to the way they were before that massive conflict. The same goes for the Cardassians, led by the ever fascinating and frankly terrifying Garak, trying to rebuild their shattered world and their position within the Alpha Quadrant by forging a new reputation.
45. Golden, C. Star Trek: Gateways #5 No Man's Land (2001)
We move on to the Voyager entry in this saga. As with the TOS entry, this story takes places during the TV show so there is nothing to comment upon when its comes to characters who have moved on or been introduced as there were for the TNG and DS9
I would say that this joins Demons of Air and Darkness as the best written of the Gateways saga so far. It captured the relationships of all the main VOY characters well - Janeway's closeness to Tuvok and Chakotay, her banter with Paris, Seven and the Doctor exploring their humanity, the ever-happy Neelix (this must take place not long before he leaves the ship) and the nothingness of Harry Kim - if anyone characterises the overall failure of Voyager as a TV show, it is the bland ensign.
One drawback I had was the length of the book - I actually think that it could have done with being a good bit longer. The crossing of the nebula and other part's of No Man's Land seem to happen rather quickly and with few problems, despite their build up as a major obstacle. There was also room for more discord between the various races that made up the diverse caravan centred on Voyager, which the author had done a good job of setting up. Also the "whodunit?" was a little bit of a let down - "it was the gigantic prick that no one liked from the very start."
We might get a bit more in the final two entries, although I sincerely doubt it.
Currently Reading
1. Peter David Star Trek: Gateways #6 Cold Wars (2001)
2. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales
39. Pale Rider
Yet another western (helps that I got a box set in order to watch the Searchers).
The overall story is a good one (although largely lifted from Shane) and Eastwood was clearly channelling John Ford with some of his choices of scenery and shooting techniques - the dark insides of a house framing the bright colours of the mountains through doorway was particularly notable as Ford-esque.
What really let this down for me were the straightforwardness of the finale and the depiction of the two main female characters. Despite a big build up, Stockburn and his deputies were given no real opportunity to display whatever skills they had (killing Spider took nothing) before being dispatched with the same ease as LaHood's original henchmen.
As for the women, they are truly terrible - a fourteen year old girl throwing herself at fifty year old man and along with her mother, professing to love said fifty year old after spending a day in his company eye-rolling stuff, which really is a recurring theme in westerns, even one made in the 1980s - women are complete slaves to their biology and lack rudimentary brain function when confronted with an alpha male. Real dark age stuff.
40. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Might as well finish off the western collection (there is one more in it - the Wild Bunch - but I have already seen it).
I found this a little disjointed, with several scenes redundant, with a largely linear structure. Coburn does a good job of portraying the gruff but conflicted Garrett, although the movie as a whole doesn't really do Garrett's tracking skills much justice. He just asks people, the simplicity of which in turn makes Billy the Kid look stupid for consistently giving away his whereabouts to people.
The movie flirts with portraying the Kid as an anti-hero in the face of the Santa Fe Ring and even though he was clearly a villain with plenty of examples of him being ruthless, the movie does attempt to stick to the more romanticised figure rather than the far more likely psychopath of history.
A nice historical appearance by governor Lew Wallace, although I would have liked to have seen him writing the screenplay or jotting down some ideas that would later become Ben Hur.
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
42. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
43. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
44. K.R.A. DeCandido Star Trek: Gateways #4 Demons of Air and Darkness (2001)
45. Golden, C. Star Trek: Gateways #5 No Man's Land (2001)
46. David, P. Star Trek: Gateways #6 Cold Wars (2001)
This felt far more detached from the main Gateways storyline, only jerking back to the shared story in the last chapters, which made it seem a little tacked on. Luckily, the main story of the Markanians vs the Aerons with the Excalibur and Trident caught in the middle is a strong one. It almost feels like a standalone story with well explored crew members on both Starfleet vessels and the addressing of pre-existing storylines. The introduction of the temporally displaced M'Ress and Arex seems a little redundant given the lack of a payoff in the actions of M'Ress in particular - all that attempted intrigue and manipulation for nothing? I doubt we will hear much more from that in Book 7, although it could tie in to other New Frontier novels.
I just have the awful feeling that the summing up of six different story lines will not be anywhere near as good as the rest of the stories, unless the final entry - What Lies Beyond - is considerably longer than any of the other entries. It really would need to be lengthy to accommodate with the presence of Kirk, the Petraw, Keller, Blood/Kauld, Picard, Kira, Janeway, Calhoun, Shelby and likely the Iconians.
Currently Reading
1. Ensemble Star Trek: Gateways #7 What Lay Beyond (2001)
2. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales39. Pale Rider
40. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
42. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
43. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
44. K.R.A. DeCandido Star Trek: Gateways #4 Demons of Air and Darkness (2001)
45. Golden, C. Star Trek: Gateways #5 No Man's Land (2001)
46. David, P. Star Trek: Gateways #6 Cold Wars (2001)
47. Ensemble Star Trek: Gateways #7 What Lay Beyond (2001)
Rather than a large over-arching story where everything is more connected than just by the presence of the Gateways, all we get is a series of final acts for all of the previous six stories like the authors had just removed the final acts from their instalments, shortened it down to have little real impact beyond the bare minimum of story-telling and then plastered it all together in a series of short stories for a final volume.
While the TNG, DS9 and New Frontier all interacted well, the other three, TOS, Challenger and Voyager had virtually nothing to do with the main story, with Kirk's meeting with the Kalandans getting the briefest of mentions later on. Keller had nothing, while Voyager was just largely tacked on with a few mentions.
Several of the stories also fall badly into the tropes of the Star Trek world too easily - Kirk is able to manipulate a female alien, Picard is an archaeological smarty-pants who figures everything out in mere moments, and Q was fucking with Janeway.
It was only with Keller, Shelby and Calhoun that something different happened but even then it was done in a slapdash manner with so many questions left unanswered.
And then there is Colonel Kira. Dear God. She gets an interesting story of being cast in the past of Bajor, fighting with rebels, urging her commander to fight on and then decides to leave. Just like that. Like it was possible for her to do so the entire time
Disappointing.
Currently Reading
1. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales39. Pale Rider
40. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
42. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
43. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
44. K.R.A. DeCandido Star Trek: Gateways #4 Demons of Air and Darkness (2001)
45. Golden, C. Star Trek: Gateways #5 No Man's Land (2001)
46. David, P. Star Trek: Gateways #6 Cold Wars (2001)
47. Ensemble Star Trek: Gateways #7 What Lay Beyond (2001)
48. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
This is essentially Thunderbirds for a more modern age, explaining technology and travel times in more realistic terms and there is no getting away from this being a Gerry Anderson story.
Gemini Force is International Rescue; Jason Truby is Jeff Tracy and Countess Caroline Brandis-Carrington is Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward; Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4, the Mole and the pods are easily seen in the GF craft. The Anderson fan can easily hear the launch sequence soundtracks of Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet or Joe90 as Aquarius, Scorpio or Pisces emerge from the hidden base.
On top of that, there are lots of little nods to Anderson series - use of the (Steve) zodiac, Truby making his fortune with something called 'Fireflash XL5', even the major rescue operation is reminiscent of the Thunderbirds episode Atlantic Inferno.
Not that I am complaining, mind you. Things like that will bring a smile to the face of someone familiar with Anderson's past works but should still be interesting to those who are not.
The publishers are marketing this through their children's section, although I am not quite sure if that is completely appropriate. There is some choice language involved and unlike Thunderbirds, the rescue attempts are not always successful, in particular with on rather big surprise about half way through.
Perhaps this somewhat limbo of who to market Gemini Force to was one of the problems numerous publishers had, leading to Jamie Anderson turning to Kickstarter to get it published the way his father wanted it to be (it won't be surprising to know that I was a backer of the Kickstarter campaign, which explains why I have a copy of a book not published until next April). I felt that there were sections that could have done with a little expansion; it could even have done with a few illustrations here and there, showing the machines in use.
Hopefully, this and recently successful Kickstarter for the return to puppets that will be Firestorm and the upcoming updating of Thunderbirds will prove to a far wider audience that there is life in the Anderson Universe yet.
Currently Reading
1. K.R.A MacCandido Star Trek: A Singular Destiny (2009)
1. Eastern Promises
2. Lust, Caution
3. Taxi Driver
4. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
5. Valhalla Rising
6. Django Unchained
7. Contraband
8. Zoolander
9. Centurion
10. The Eagle
11. Super
12. X-Men: First Class
13. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
14. Son of the Mask
15. Despicable Me
16. Despicable Me 2
17. Shrek Forever After
18. In the Electric Mist
19. The Other Guys
20. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
21. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Lego Movie
23. GI JOE: Retaliation
24. To End All War
25. Iron Man 3
26. American Hustle
27. Gravity
28. We're the Millers
29. Blood of the Vikings
30. Zombieland
31. Fort Apache
32. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
33. A Few Dollars More
34. Natural Born Killers
35. Southland Tales
36. The Road
37. The Searchers
38. The Outlaw Josey Wales39. Pale Rider
40. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
41. Mallrats
This has sat in my 2 Watch pile for quite a while. Not sure I have actually seen any other film in the ViewAskeverse aside from Dogma.
This was a rather rapid catalogue of events in what was just a single afternoon, especially Shannon Doherty's character, who dumped her boyfriend, got a new boyfriend, had sex with her ex in public, confirmed his dumping before then dumping her new anal-seeking suitor for her ex.
Overall though, easy viewing with a lot of innuendo - "an uncomfortable place" - but also some rather blunt insults; you know, the way people actually talk.
I do have one question though: do people really hang out in malls like that?
Repeat Viewing
1. Zulu
2. Die Hard With A Vengeance
3. The Punisher
4. The Guard
5. Octopussy
6. Live and Let Die
Books
Read
1. James Bowder (ed.) Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (2012)
2. Paul S. Kemp Star Wars: Riptide (2011)
3. James E. Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD84 (2008)
4. Aaron Allston Star Wars: X-Wing #10 - Mercy Kill
5. Chester G. Starr The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History (1989)
6. Robert Harvey Clive: The Life and Death of a British Emperor (1998)
7. David Ross Nelson: Britain's Greatest Naval Commander (2005)
8. Dan Crompton A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: The World's Oldest Joke Book (2010)
9. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Choices of One (2012)
10. Peter Haining A Brief History of Cults: Bizarre Rituals and Murderous Practices Revealed (1999)
11. Drew Karpyshyn Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation
12. Shaun Porter Barbaric Methods of Ancient Execution
13. Chester G. Starr The Emergence of Rome as Ruler of the Western World (1953)
14. Patrick Bishop Target Tirpitz: X-Craft, Agents and Dambusters - The Epic Quest to Destroy Hitler's Mightiest Warship (2012)
15. K.M. MacPhee Dalriada: Heartland of Scotland (2012)
16. John Richardson Roman Provincial Administration (2001)
17. Michael Grant The Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (1999)
18. S.A.Lusher The Necropolis Trilogy (2014)
19. David Shotter Tiberius Caesar (2004)
20. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2000)
21. Chris Bentley The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet (2001)
22. Simon B. Jones The Battles Are The Best Bits
23. Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped (2008)
24. Peter Blake and Paul Blezard The Arcadian Cipher (2000)25. Giles Milton Samurai William: the Adventurer who Unlocked Japan (2003)
27. S.J. Hill and S. Ireland Roman Britain (2013)
28. T.D. Barnes Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire (1993)
29. Timothy Zahn Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013)
30. Frederick Forsyth The Day of the Jackal (1971)
31. Chris Brown The Second Scottish Wars of Independence 1332-1363 (2002)
32. M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD226-363 (1993)
33. J.J. Miller Star Wars: The Lost Tribe of the Sith (2012)
34. C.J. Kraus and A.J. Woodman The Latin Historians (2006)
35. Tim Lebbon Star Wars: Into the Void (2013)
36. Ben McIntyre Agent Zigag: Lover, Traitor, Hero, Spy (2007)
37. Brian Robb A Brief Guide to Star Trek: The Essential History f the Classic TV Series and the Movies (2012)
38. M.A. Martin and A. Mangels Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru
39. Paul Stephenson Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor (2009)
40. Wright, S. Star Trek: Gateways #1 One Small Step (2001)
41. Carey, D. Star Trek: Gateways #2 Chainmail (2001)
42. Greenberger, R. Star Trek: Gateways #3 Door into Chaos (2001)
43. Peter Brown Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550AD (2012)
44. K.R.A. DeCandido Star Trek: Gateways #4 Demons of Air and Darkness (2001)
45. Golden, C. Star Trek: Gateways #5 No Man's Land (2001)
46. David, P. Star Trek: Gateways #6 Cold Wars (2001)
47. Ensemble Star Trek: Gateways #7 What Lay Beyond (2001)
48. M.G. Harris Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force: Black Horizon (2015)
Currently Reading
1. K.R.A MacCandido Star Trek: A Singular Destiny (2009)
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