TRANS-SCRIBE

Thursday, 4 June 2020

Prince Of Darkness (1987) – Cinema From The Year I Was Born

Originally published on Set The Tape

If you ask people to name some of their favourite John Carpenter films they’ll usually give you some of the bigger names, like Halloween, The Thing, or Escape From New York. These are all great films, and ones that I love, but one that it seems that people often forget about is not only one of my favourites, but also from the year I was born: 1987’s Prince of Darkness.

Prince of Darkness follows an unnamed priest played by Donald Pleasance, who requests that quantum physicist Professor Birack (Victor Wong) and his students join him to investigate at a church in downtown Los Angeles. The church was home to the mysterious sect known as ‘The Brotherhood of Sleep’, which is all but gone. The priest needs assistance in investigating a mysterious cylinder in the church basement, filled with swirling green liquid, and a strange, ancient text.

The team of young scientists begin their investigation, discovering that the text claims the liquid is the corporeal embodiment of Satan. The liquid seems to defy all scientific logic, and the scientists begin to believe it may have otherworldly origins.

I’ve got to be honest, the combination of logic and the supernatural, of science and religion presented in Prince of Darkness is one of the things that I love most about this film. It takes the standard horror trope of otherworldly forces and tries to give it a grounding in our understanding of the modern world, presenting it as perhaps a science that we just don’t understand yet. The idea that Satan might be the son of an Anti-God, a being who presides in the anti-matter universe, is so crazy it’s actually kind of brilliant and something that could only come from a mind as creative and skilled as John Carpenter.

Despite some kind of new ideas about the science of the devil the film is very traditional horror fare, with a group of people trapped in a location they don’t want to be in as they’re slowly picked off one at a time. In this case it’s because the church gets surrounded by a group of homeless people under the influence of the supernatural forces, who will kill anyone trying to leave the building. The fact that these homeless killers are led by Alice Cooper makes these scenes kind of brilliant too, especially when Cooper breaks out his famous impaling bike trick from his live shows and uses it on one of the poor scientists.

Much of the action in Prince of Darkness is like this, sudden and violent, with some very gruesome and disturbing moments. Whilst the film doesn’t splash gore around it does show enough to leave you feeling very uncomfortable during these moments, and it’s more the abject fear that the characters go through that makes these deaths intense over blood and guts.

Thankfully, Carpenter seems to bring back a lot of the stuff that made Halloween such a good horror for this film, and relies on the slow build of tension during the early stages of the movie to keep viewers on edge. You spend time getting to know the characters, and begin to care about them to the point where some deaths will leave you crying out in disappointment as they’re people you wanted to see survive.

As with many of his films, Carpenter also provides the music for the film, and it immediately adds to the atmosphere. He knows how to produce tension through slow camera shots and creepy music in scenes that would otherwise be fairly stale and boring with other directors. There’s practically no scene in the film that doesn’t feel slightly wrong or creepy, even those before anything really happens, because of how Carpenter directs the camera and deploys the soundtrack in the right way.

Prince of Darkness might be one of the John Carpenter films that gets overshadowed by the director’s bigger hits, but is a film that should certainly not be forgotten about. Whether you’ve never seen it before, or just not seen it in a while, it’s definitely worth checking out for its amazing cast, bold ideas, and the ability to send chills down the spine every time.

Buy Now On Amazon

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Space Precinct Episode 3 'Enforcer' - TV Review

Episode three of Space Precinct actually goes out of its way to focus on one of the characters for a change, and makes this the best episode of the series so far.

The episode opens on Skall Street, one of the most lawless parts of the city, and home to the Hydra Gang. An elderly Creon shopkeeper, Skeevan, is mugged by a member of the gang, but when a pair of aliens arrive on the scene to stop him the gang member suffers a heart attack and dies. These two aliens, a tarn called Trask, and an unidentified alien girl called Vala, begin to protect the citizens of Skall Street, taking on the members of the Hydra Gang. However, when they begin to demand money from the residents in exchange for this protection it becomes clear their motives are less than noble.

There's no great mystery to the plot in this episode, no killer to be found like in the last one, instead all the information is given to the viewer up front. That's because it seems like this episode isn't really about the crime at all, but instead it gives us an insight into the past of Captain Podly.

Over the course of the episode we learn that Podly grew up on Skall Street, and was even something of a crook himself when he was a kid. Having turned his life around and made something of himself he's angry that the people of his old home are being targeted, and wants to do something about it. The episode doesn't let this just sit in a clear black and white, however, as former friends of Podly call him out on the fact that he's essentially turned his back on his past. This raises some good moral questions on the issue, if Podly wasn't as concerned about Skall Street when it was being terrorised by the Hydra Gang, why should be suddenly care when someone is killing off the members of the gang now?

Honestly, this is the most thought that's been given to any of the characters in the show so far. Even Brogan, the hero of the series, hasn't really been given the spotlight in this way. We know he transferred from New York to Demeter City, but that's it. We don't know about his past, how he grew up, or really what drives him to be a good cop; yet we get that with Podly. It's a bold choice to have the first character focused episode be given over to a character who isn't even in the opening credits (as none of the alien actors are) but it's a very welcome one.

The 'surprise' reveal that Trask isn't the one killing people, but that he's using Vala to do it was pretty obvious, however, and I'm not sure if we were really supposed to suspect him or not. The episode doesn't seem to hide the fact that Trask can't be trusted, and the revelation that he's taking advantage of Vala seemed obvious before it happened. Despite this, Trask's a good character, and he's convincing as a villain taking advantage of the people around him. Towards the end of the episode he loses believably somewhat when he tries to send the police station crashing out of orbit as he becomes a bit more arch and transforms into a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

Overall 'Enforcer' is a very good episode, and probably the best of the series so far. Hopefully this is an indicator that the series will begin to look at their side characters more and put a bit of focus on the people rather than just the adventure of the week.

Tuesday, 2 June 2020

Star Trek: Voyager – It Isn’t That Bad!

Originally published on Set The Tape

Since the return of Star Trek onto television thanks to Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard it would seem as though the franchise has become something that fans inevitably argue over, mostly about what is and isn’t Star Trek. This isn’t anything new, however. Some fans were enraged when the franchise went back in time to explore the beginnings of the Federation in Enterprise; some were appalled with the flip-flopping behaviour and morals of the crew of Voyager; some said that it couldn’t be the same because Deep Space Nine didn’t go anywhere and was too dark; and some said The Next Generation was bad just because it wasn’t the original series.

People being angry about some aspect of the series is nothing new. Whilst some of these shows have since gone through something of a resurgence and found critical acclaim since their original airing, Deep Space Nine being a prime example, one that still seems to get a lot of hatred is Voyager.

Voyager gets a lot of hate despite previously being one of the most rewatched Star Trek shows on Netflix (according to a study by The Radio Times). It’s easy to point at things that make the show a little bad in places – Jennifer Lien’s Kes was pretty dull, and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) was a bit erratic at times – but that’s not what I’m doing here. Instead I’m going to argue that the show is actually better than you’d think.

The Crew

Now, the crew of Voyager are probably one of the most interesting groups in Star Trek. This doesn’t necessarily mean the best crew (that’s absolutely Deep Space Nine) but interesting at least. Whilst the divisions between the Starfleet and Maquis crew wasn’t massively explored, certainly not to the extent that it might be today, there were still many episodes that focused on this.

Over the seven seasons we saw that despite friendships and romantic relationships between the two groups they often still thought of themselves as two crews, and this led to conflict. Season seven’s ‘Repression’ is a great example of how even towards the end the two crews could still create drama.

The Doctor

Robert Picardo is easily the best actor on Voyager, and is one of the all time fan favourite characters in the entire franchise. Originally supposed to be a minor recurring character, he made his Emergency Medical Hologram into a being whose journey to sentience was as exciting and engaging as Data’s (Brent Spiner) in The Next Generation. We saw his character learn how to act human, how to form friendships with people. The crew went from thinking of him as a piece of equipment to a real person, and eventually a part of their family who they’d go through hell to protect.

Whilst there are too many great episodes about The Doctor to list here, season three’s ‘Real Life’ saw him programme himself a family, so that he could learn what it’s like to have a wife and children. Thanks to some unfortunate events he has to watch his daughter, who he genuinely loves, die in front of him in what might be the most emotionally moving episode the series ever made.

The Delta Quadrant

The main premise of Voyager, a lone ship lost on the other side of the galaxy, is still one of the best set-ups the franchise has ever given a series. We have a single ship that’s separated from home, with no back-up, no reinforcements, and every species they come across a potential threat. Whilst the show did kind of ignore this sometimes, with an apparent infinite supply of shuttles and torpedo's, and the ability to get the ship looking brand new after every battle, there were occasions where the scenario was executed very well and you really felt the stakes were high for the crew.

It also added a lot more mystery to the series, as unless it was a species that kept coming back to plague them, such as the Kazon, each week viewers would be getting something brand new that’d never been seen on Star Trek before. This led to some exciting and interesting new allies and villains in the show, including the vicious Hirogen, and the terrifying Vidiians.

The Borg

The Borg are hands down one of the best alien races in Star Trek, and have become as iconic as Klingons and Vulcans. Despite this, they only featured in half a dozen episodes of The Next Generation, and only appeared in one brief flashback on Deep Space Nine. Voyager, on the other hand, got to have a whole lot more fun with this big bad, as they had to literally pass through Borg territory to get home.

Voyager didn’t over-use the Borg, but managed to feature them a number of times and, in part thanks to the introduction of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), we got to learn so much more about them. The Borg episodes are easily some of the best Voyager has to offer, and really highlight how great a villain they are.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of what make Voyager a good show, but these are some of its best bits. But there is so much more about the show that’s good – great even. It takes a little while to find its feet, but seasons three onward are very good, and have some brilliant episodes. With the show celebrating its 25th anniversary, maybe now is a good time to give the series another go and discover that there’s actually a lot of good to be found here.

Buy Now On Amazon

Monday, 1 June 2020

Marvel Action: Avengers #10 – Comic Review

Originally Published on Set The Tape

Issue #10 of Marvel Action: Avengers seems to be a bit of a strange issue. To begin with it seems like a pretty simple set-up, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) have taken over New York City, and rule it with an iron fist. They’re doing this, in part, thanks to having captured and brainwashed a number of heroes into working for them.

These heroes are A.I.M versions of themselves, fitting the colours and logo of the evil organisation, such as Spider-Mechanic, The Golden Witch, and Yellow Hulk. We learn all this through Captain America, who begins the issue as an enforcer for A.I.M. before being rescued by some of his fellow Avengers, who are now running a resistance group from a secret underground bunker.

All of this seems fairly simple, and is an interesting and engaging idea that would be good enough to play a story out of, especially as the few remaining Avengers would have to fight their former friends and colleagues to save the day. However, the final moments of the issue seem to hint that there’s actually a lot more going on here, and that everything we’d seen up to that point is simply an illusion inside Captain America’s head. There are hints that this may be due to the Fear Eaters, who were apparently beaten at the end of the last story.

Unfortunately, the issue ends there and we don’t get a clear answer to what’s going on. Now, this is bad because I want to know what happens next and have to wait to next issue to get some answers, but it’s also good comic writing as Matthew K. Manning has me wanting to know what happens next and waiting for the next issue.

I’m going to be interested in seeing if we’re going to be jumping in and out of this apparent A.I.M. illusion/dream; if the dream turns out to be real or not; or even if the events shown in the previous issue where they beat the Fear Eaters might have been fake and the heroes actually lost the battle. Or maybe there’s something else going on that doesn’t connect with those creatures at all?

Because all of the questions raised in this issue over what’s really happening I find it a little hard to say if it was a good start to the story or not. Either we’ve had a lot of set-up for what’s going on, or most of it’s just a dream and we’re just getting hints at other things to come. I think a lot of how this issue ends up feeling will largely depend on what happens in the subsequent parts, but I think this was pretty good.

The Woman / Offspring – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

We take a look at popular 2011 horror film The Woman and its lesser known 2009 predecessor Offspring, as Arrow Films brings them together on Blu-ray for the first time, in a new Limited Edition set. Warning: contains spoilers.

The Woman is a film that I’d heard of long before I’d watched it, and was one that I’d seen a lot of horror fans discussing when it first came out; usually talking about how disturbing it is. It centres of the Cleek family, who live in a large farmhouse on the edge of the woods. When the father Chris (Sean Bridgers) discovers a feral woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) living in the woods he decides to capture her, chain her up in his barn, and civilise her.

Whilst the woman is supposed to be a cannibalistic killer, which is seen a lot more in Offspring, I can’t say that I can really class her as the villain of The Woman. This isn’t a film about a family who end up having to try and survive a feral killer, but a story about one twisted man’s hatred of women, and desire to abuse people.

Chris Cleek rules his family with an iron fist. His wife is a quiet and meek woman, who gets beaten, he berates his son for not doing well enough, whilst seemingly grooming to become an abuser himself, and his eldest daughter is hiding a pregnancy that the film indicates he’s responsible for. Chris is the very real monster in this film, and that helps to make it all the more disturbing. Having a feral cannibal woman chained up in your barn might not be an experience many can identify with, but being stuck in an abusive home certainly is.

The film doesn’t tip its hand though, it very slowly draws you in by making you think this is a normal family and that Chris is a nice guy. Before you know it though it’s clear he’s a violent abuser, but by then it’s too late. Like being in an abusive relationship the film shows you a nice front before it hits you the brutal reality.

Things do take a more open, horror turn by the gory end, but by then it feels more like a relief, because it breaks the mounting tension that has built within the Cleek home. Whilst the abusers of the film do get their comeuppance it doesn’t feel like a victory, and it left me feeling depressed by the time the credits rolled. It wasn’t a bad film because of this, but it’s not a fun type of horror film; it’s a film that you need to be in the right mood for because of the constant sense of oppression and sadness that seems to permeate its entirety.

Offspring, by contrast, feels a lot more like what you’d expect from a cannibal horror movie. The film is less oppressive, and there are very clear distinctions between the heroes and villains. There are good people who fall victim to the woman’s feral family, and you root for them to survive. The cops are there to try and save the women and children, and the douche-bag ex-husband is a dick and gets what he deserves before the end.

It’s what I would expect from a film like this, it ticked all the boxes and didn’t really try to do anything different or special, so didn’t stand out to me as particularly great. That’s a note that falls much more on the shoulders of The Woman.

The set offered by Arrow Films is an interesting one, as it’s got a fairly standard, almost forgettable movie, and one that’s going to affect you a lot more and stick with you for longer. It certainly makes for an interesting study in how the series changed from one film to the next though, and makes for an engaging comparison between the two.

The Blu-ray also comes with a host of extras for each film, including multiple commentaries for each film, including newly recorded ones, cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes making-of’s, webisodes, and deleted scenes. Sadly, I was only provided with a screener for the movies, so didn’t get a chance to see these extras, but I’d definitely be interested to learn more about the films and their making, and think that the extras on offer here sound like they’d definitely scratch that itch.

Buy Now On Amazon

Saturday, 30 May 2020

Black Trans Man Tony McDade Killed By Florida Police

On Wednesday 27th May Florida trans man Tony McDade was fatally shot and killed by a white police officer in a further incident of police violence towards the BIPOC community. The news of this incident came out during protests across the United States due to the police murder of another black man, George Floyd.

According to information from the Tallahassee police, Tony was a suspect in a stabbing incident. Tony was identified as the main suspect by the as of yet unnamed victim. This seems to be backed up by a post on Tony's social media, where he released a video stating that he wanted revenge for a beating that he was the victim of.

In the video Tony says 'You killed me, I'm gonna kill you'. He also said that this would lead to a stand-off with police. In his final post to Facebook he said 'I'm living suicidal right now'.

The police followed public tips for a person matching Tony's description, which led to a confrontation with him. According to Chief Lawrence Revell, Tony was armed with a gun and 'made a move consistent with using the firearm against the officer'. Rather than arrest Tony, the police shot and killed him. It has not been confirmed if any of the officers present at the incident were wearing a body-cam, or if their are any witnesses to the incident to corroborate that Tony was armed and threatening police officers; though according to the Human Rights Campaign several people managed to record the event.

Initial police and media reports about the incident misgendered Tony and used the incorrect name and pronouns. Thankfully friends and family came forward to correctly identify him.

Around 30 members of the local community gathered to hold a candlelight vigil following the killing. Residents from his apartment complex have also created a memorial next to a tree in the area where he was killed.

Following the incident the Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition released a statement to say 'It pains me to have learned about Tony McDade, who we understand was killed by a member of the Tallahassee Police Department yesterday morning. This tragic incident should be a reminder that hate crimes against Black LGBTQ/SGL people happen too frequently - often without the national public outcry that our cis and/or heteronormative brothers and sisters receive'.

Tori Cooper, the director off community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative at the Human Rights Campaign also released a statement. 'The Human Rights Campaign and the entire transgender and non-binary community demand accountability and answers for Tony’s death, and countless violent deaths of trans people, Black people and, disproportionately, Black transgender people. While these deaths are visible due to recordings and social media, we know far too many go completely ignored. Black people, LGBTQ people, and especially all LGBTQ people of colour are at greater risk for violence every day in this country. This must end. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn with Tony’s family and friends.'

According to the Human Rights Campaign, who track as many incidents as possible, at least another eleven other transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been violently killed in the US in 2020. This also marks yet another incident of a black person who has been killed by the police.

Police Chief Lawrence Revell said in a press conference that their was 'no indication' that the police officers involved acted wrongly, or that the killing was racially motivated.

Thursday, 28 May 2020

Space Precinct Episode 2 'Double Duty' - TV Review

I continue to be surprised that Space Precinct used to be shown during the early evenings when it first aired in the 90's, as this episode really leans into the horror side of sci-fi when a horrific alien creature commits brutal murders against a series of drug kingpins.

The episode opens with Officers Brogan and Haldane engaged in surveillance of a local drug dealer, Oturi Nissim. Having failed to find any evidence that Nissim is dealing in illegal black crystals during a raid, the duo are keeping an eye on his apartment to keep the pressure on the criminal. After they observe a pizza delivery being made to the apartment the mutilated body of Nissim lands on their police cruiser. When they investigate the apartment they find Nissim's body guards torn to pieces, and a young woman as the only survivor.

Investigating into the mysterious pizza delivery guy, they discover a much larger ring of black crystal smugglers, using the pizza delivery as a front. However, the thing that killed Nissim begins to take out the other dealers, before eventually appearing on the precinct house and attacking Officer Orrin.

The episode starts very strong, and the initial attack upon Nissim's apartment is done well, building up tension as Nissim discovers the remains of his men. Sadly, there were two things that distracted me slightly in these beginning moments. The first was that it seemed a little obvious that Aleesha, the pretty young woman who survived the attack, was the one responsible for the killings. The other thing was that the pizza delivery guy was played by Idris Elba. Whilst that's not distracting enough, he' been dubbed over by long time Gerry Anderson voice actor David Healy, who gives him a kind of cowboy-like accent.

After these opening moments the episode has the main duo trying to get to the bottom of the killings, which gives us a fun little police chase with amazing model work, as well as an intense shootout with a pair of drug dealers.

Despite their best efforts to try and track down the mysterious killer Brogan and Haldane struggle to make any traction, and begin to become suspects themselves as the only people to be present at both sets of killings. Whilst Captain Podly doesn't seem to believe this, it's a good world building moment when he tells them the mayor is clamouring for answers and pointing the finger at a pair of 'rogue' cops. We've not really learnt much about the workings of Demeter City outside of the police, but this throwaway line lets us know that the police don't operate in a vacuum, that they are answerable to people and the public can sway opinion.

Toward the end of the episode the characters begin to piece together the answer to the mystery, in part thanks to a sub-plot involving Brogan's son Matthew. This leads to a violent confrontation with Aleesha in her monster form that ends with the characters gunning her down. It's brutal and fast, and over before you've really had the chance to realise what's going on. I also refer to Aleesha's other form as a monster because whilst all of the other aliens we've seen in Space Precinct all seem like people, just ones that look different from us, Aleesha's other form is more of a feral beast, more akin to a wild animal than a person.

The episode also has a couple of sub-plots going on in the background. The first one, as I'd mentioned before, does tie into the main story as it helps Brogan to piece together what's happening. It involves his son Matthew and his new friend Inazy, who Brogan doesn't really like. He comes from a poorer part of the city, and is presented to be something of a tearaway, and when Brogan sees them with a strange bottle of glowing liquid he begins to suspect they're up to no good. However, it turns out that Inazy is actually a really good kid, and that the two teens have just been working on a school project together.

It's kind of nice that the episode worked this story in. Not only does it build on the Brogan family as seen in the first episode, who seemed a bit dull there, but it also adds to the message of the episode of not judging people by their first appearance. The sweet and innocent girl is actually a brutal killer, and the untrustworthy youth is a really good kid who's trying to do well at school. The two play into each other well, that even the moment when Brogan figures things out doesn't feel too corny as it's in a nice character scene.

The other sub-plot, on the other hand, seems to be something completely throw away, and feels like its in the episode to pad out the running time and to give the women something to do. It might seem a bit mean to say this, but the whole plot about the old bag lady who turns out to be a lost alien queen adds nothing to the other story, and this is the second episode in a row where both Officer Castle and Officer Took seem to be relegated to the background. I really hope that this isn't the start of a pattern where the female officers keep getting given pointless sub-plots to keep them sidelined.

'Double Duty' definitely leans into the sci-fi side of things more than the first episode did, but seems to find a really nice balance of science fiction and police procedural. It also continues to display great model work that gets utilised in brilliant chase sequences, though some of the other effects definitely haven't aged as well. A solid second episode for the series.

Buy Now On Amazon

Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Predator Stalking Shadows by James A. Moore and Mark Morris - Book Review

'In the aftermath of the events of Predator 2, U.S. Marine Scott Devlin is assigned to the clean-up operation in Los Angeles. He is soon thrust into a world of secretive government agents, highly-advanced technology, and an unstoppable juggernaut lone agent, Alan ‘Dutch’ Schaefer.

As Devlin rises through the ranks, working in elite counter-terrorist units, he gathers evidence, slowly piecing together the shocking truth of what he saw that night. Fighting for freedom from the jungles of South America to the Scottish Highlands, Devlin learns who the real enemy is, and how to fight for survival.

'He’s not the only one fighting back against the Hunters. Dutch has been working in the shadows ever since his first encounter in Central America, gathering knowledge, weapons, and team mates. Fighting both the Hunters and shadowy government agencies, Dutch and Devlin must team up to take the fight to the aliens – to become the predators.'

The Predator franchise has it's highs and lows, but generally has some very good films. The first three films in the series are all good for various different reasons, and whilst 2018's The Predator was generally seen as a disappointment that's still only one of the four films that's really classed as bad. Over the years the franchise has tried to expand out into different mediums, such as novels, comics, and video games. Whilst it's received acclaim in comics and games, novels tends not to be a medium where people sing its praises as much.

I've found that this can sometimes come down to the fact that it an be hard to capture a lot of the tension and horror that the films have on the written page, and that Predator books can sometimes feel a little flat. This is most certainly not the case with Predator Stalking Shadows, as I found it to not only be incredibly engaging and character driven, but at times was genuinely scary too.

Predator Stalking Shadows doesn't focus on just one event, on a singular predator incursion, and this really works to its advantage. Instead we follow Scott Devlin, a member of the US Marines, over the course of a number of decades as he slowly begins to learn the truth about the existence of these extraterrestrial hunters, and becomes drawn into the fight against them. As such, the book becomes more about him than the titular monsters; and this is such a good thing.

We get to see Scott as a relatively young man, fresh onto a special unit and going out on top secret missions. We get to see him get to know the soldiers around him, and we get to come to care for them the same way that he does. This means that when Scott and his comrades eventually end up in positions where they're going up against the Yautja you are hoping that these people make it through these encounters, and become genuinely heartbroken when some of them don't.

Not only was this so refreshing a development, I genuinely shed a couple of tears during one particularly poignant funeral scene, but I think it's probably the first time that I've ever really cared about a character death in the entire Predator franchise. Yes, it's disappointing when the cool marines die in the first film, and I genuinely hoped that Danny Trejo would have lasted longer in Predators, but this was the first time that I found myself caring about them as people, upset that they were leaving wives and children behind when they passed away.

But this is what the book is really good at. It's not a book about the spectacle of the predators, or the horror of being in their hunting ground, it's a story about the people in these situations. It's one of the most grounded, human stories in the entire franchise.

The book also features the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch, and shows what he's been doing in the years since the first Predator film. He's the character that we occasionally see fighting the predators, and whilst these moments are fairly fleeting they do help to carry the story along, giving readers brief moments of action as the rest of the book works on character and world building. For as many times as we get to see Dutch in action against the creatures we also get second hand stories about what he's been doing and how his mission has been getting on. Rather than feeling cheated by these, hoping for a 'show don't tell' approach instead, they feel a lot more real. We're supposed to be following Scott and his particular journey, so it makes sense to stick with him and instead of seeing Dutch's moments seeing them through Scott's eyes; which is learning about them after the fact.

I don't know much about the game that this is setting up, Predator Hunting Grounds, and imagine that it's more laying some very background framework for the game and explaining why Dutch is still around, as I do know he appears in the game. But I have to be honest, I wouldn't have cared half as much about the game before reading this book. The book makes it feel like there's a more cohesive world inside the Predator franchise, it makes it feel like the films and this new game are connecting in more than just name and IP. And better yet, the book manages to stand on its own and stays a brilliant piece of work without needing to connect into the game.

Predator Stalking Shadows is easily one of the best Predator novels that I've read. It captures the feel and tension of the films without relying on it to make its story. It centres on realistic people, it makes you care about the characters and the world in ways the franchise hasn't before. A masterful piece of fiction.

Buy Now On Amazon

Tuesday, 26 May 2020

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - Book Review

'Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories—they're dangerous! Full of unexpected twists and turns, Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.'

I'd heard about the Artemis Fowl books for a while, but had never gotten around to reading them despite managing to acquire the entire series. This was largely due to having worked in a charity shop before becoming too ill to work and the set coming in one day. When the upcoming film was announced, and with the set sitting on a shelf in my library, I decided that it was probably about time that I got round to actually reading one.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what I was expecting going into it, I knew that Artemis is supposed to be some kind of super villain kid, and that their are fairies and magical creatures, but I wasn't expecting such a small story.

I've found that a lot of stories that involve younger people discovering about a hidden world of magic or the supernatural tend to take on a grand tone to it. Harry is the chosen one in Harry Potter, and whilst we don't learn the significance and importance of what Valkyrie Cain will become in Skulduggery Pleasant she does help defeat a powerful evil. These books throw the heroes into grand adventure and high stakes, but that's not the case with Artemis Fowl.

This could be because in essence Artemis isn't the hero of this particular story, but it the bad guy, but I think it also came down to the fact that despite involving fairies, trolls, and dwarfs, this story was about kidnapping and ransom. There was no grand adventure or any epic revelations, it's just about a group of police officers trying to get one of their colleagues back from a kidnapper.

I think that this might be part of the reason why I didn't really feel like the book clicked with me at any point. There was nothing overtly wrong with it, and it was entertaining enough, but it never really drew me in or made me care about anyone. There was a point in the book where it looked like one of the main characters was dead, and I didn't really care. There was no shock or disappointment, no cheer as it was revealed they were okay; I was reading it with a sense of detachment.

This was one of the biggest issues for me, that I felt detached for the whole book. I didn't learn enough about the fairy folk or their world to find them interesting, and the stuff I did learn seemed to only ever be related to the specific things happening their and then. Because of this I didn't really care that their world might become exposed, because I didn't know what their world was already. I didn't every learn enough about Artemis to care about his plots either. Yes, he wants money to try and continue to get by with his rich lifestyle, and to perhaps find his father; but he came across as a device to start the plot rather than a real person.

The characters that felt the most real were the non-human ones, but thanks to the pace at which the story progressed we never got to spend enough time with them to see what they were really like. They were always reacting to things, and the readers never got a chance to see what they were like in anything but a 'work' scenario. I get that these characters are fairy cops, but they're also people. Show that a bit more. Show what Holly's thinking, about how being taken prisoner is effecting her; then I'll start to care if she makes it out or not.

There are a lot of books aimed at younger readers that are able to keep adults entertained too, many of which have gone on to become globally successful franchises. I have to be honest though, I don't see much of that on offer in Artemis Fowl. The book is fine, and it will certainly appeal to the intended age group, but I don't think it's got enough to it to grab people who come to it later in life. I understand that this might be something that changes with the series over time, as a lot of books seem to mature as they progress through a series, growing with their fans, so I'll probably give the second book a go and see if this is the case here.

Buy Now On Amazon