Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Science fiction has always been a good medium through which to examine certain subjects, and one that keeps coming up time and time again is the idea of human augmentation. The very concept that people will one day be able to change themselves, to alter their appearance, their bodies, to gain powers and abilities is one that writers keep coming back to.

It’s not hard to see why, the concept raises questions about what it would mean to be human, if there’s a point where you could alter yourself enough that people would say you’re not a person anymore; and seeing the way our current society treats people like transgender people who transition it’s not shocking that these stories feature violent push-back against body modification, because it’s happening in our world today.

The Deus Ex series has always had these themes involved in its text. From the very first moments of the original game you’re introduced to a world where people have augmented their bodies with implants, where they’ve changed their human limbs out for robotic replacements. The series seemed to treat this as a normal part of the future world they’d crafted, where it was pretty commonly accepted. It wasn’t until Deus Ex: Human Revolution that the series actually made it a more important part of the story.

Where the other games in the series put global conspiracies and shadowy cabals at the forefront, Deus Ex: Human Revolution made trans-humanism the main focus. Going backwards in time to an early point in the franchise, the game put you in the shoes of Adam Jensen, a security officer working for Sarif Industries, a company that has been creating artificial organs and body part replacements. When a group of terrorists called the Tyrants attack the building Adam is severely injured, and is essentially rebuilt using augmentations. After months in recovery Adam is dispatched to hunt down the Tyrants, and to bring them to justice.

Like with previous entries in the series, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a first person shooter with a lot of RPG elements thrown into the mix. Whilst the majority of the game-play sees you exploring different environments, solving puzzles or engaging with enemies in combat, there are also a lot of times where you’ll be choosing how you want to interact with people, picking out different things to say depending on the results that you want.

Much like the first game this new entry in the series allowed players the freedom to approach levels however they wanted, often giving you several options for how to tackle your objectives. If you want to play stealthily you can sneak through air vents and use cloaking mods to get behind your enemy and take them down with non-lethal means. Alternatively, you can smash your way through doors with your enhanced strength, throw furniture around the room and shoot the place up with your guns. This freedom extended to the story to a certain degree too, as there were times where the game allowed you to choose in what direction it was going to go, as well as a number of different endings that you’re able to unlock based upon your choices.

The biggest issue with the game, however, were the boss fights. You’ll be hard pressed to find a review or retrospective of the game where people don’t point out how bad these moments are, even if the rest of the game gets a glowing review. Whilst the rest of the game lets you play how you want the boss fights don’t. They will often force you into a single way of dealing with the bosses, even if it doesn’t fit your play style or the augments you have. It will even make you kill the bosses, killing being something you can go the entire game without other than these moments. There’s even an achievement for finishing the game without killing that has to point out the bosses don’t count, because it really does force your hand.

Despite these moments the game was pretty good, and it was one of the most enjoyable times I’d had with the series since the original more than a decade before. It took the series in an interesting new direction, including the big global conspiracies and shady machinations yes, but putting a more human story at its heart. Whether you’re new to the franchise, or have been playing it since the first game. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is sure to entertain even a decade on.

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Devil May Cry – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

It’s been twenty years since Devil May Cry blasted its way onto consoles in a hail of bullets and demon magic, a series that has gone on to be one of the most successful and beloved hack-and-slash games around; though one that almost became something very different.

Before becoming its own game, Devil May Cry was being developed as the fourth numbered entry in the Resident Evil franchise.When approached by Capcom to create a more action oriented entry for the survival horror series, director Hideki Kamiya and writer Noboru Sugimura began work on a game that was much more stylised and action-heavy than anything in the series to date. They came up with a story about a protagonist who was augmented with biotechnology, enabling him to perform superhuman feats, as well as taking unbelievable amounts of damage.

Over time the project became so far removed from what the rest of Resident Evil was that all involved felt that it no longer fit the series. Rather than just scrapping the game, the team were able to continue on with the project as its own IP, though after changing several of the story points. Instead of being about a man using science and bio-tech to alter his body to fight bio-weapons, it became a story about a world filled with demons.

The story of Devil May Cry follows Dante, the son of a human woman and the demon knight Sparda, who rebelled against the fellow demons to fight for humanity. Dante, a demon hunter, is hired by a woman to travel to a remote island to help stop the forces of the demon emperor Mundus, who’s planning to cross over into the human world. Not only that, but because Mundus was the demon responsible for the death of Dante’s mother and brother. Dante agrees, and travels to the island to stop the demonic incursion.

One of the things that really worked towards the success of Devil May Cry when it was first released on Playstation 2 in 2001 was that there wasn’t really anything like it around. Other popular horror games at the time were things like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, both games that put you in control of very human protagonists, and where survival was the main focus. More action oriented games, like Castlevania, had tried entering the 3D world, but were mostly still relegated to 2D games. Devil May Cry was a game that felt incredibly unique, one that replicated the over the top action of anime shows and put players in control in a way that had never been done before.

And it’s a good job that the gameplay was good, because the story was pretty minimal. The series would expand over time, exploring the backstory of Dante and adding more layers and complexity, but the first game was a very simple concept. Travel to a deserted island, kill everything that moves because everything there is a monster. The most complexity the game had were hints that one of the enemies could be Dante’s brother (something confirmed in later games), but this was never really explored fully in this game.

The focus on the action was the best thing the game could have done, and its fast paced mixture of gun-play and melee weapons, which players were able to switch between seamlessly, proved to be not just incredibly popular, but something a lot of other games would come to emulate over the years. The game was so geared towards these fancy moments that it even incorporated a style system, where you’d be graded over how cool you were playing the game. Instead of simply playing through to get to the end you’d find yourself going back and trying new moves and combos on levels so that you could get that coveted top score, and feel pretty badass doing it too.

Devil May Cry is a game that I remember vividly when it first came out. It was a game everyone wanted to play because it was just plain cool. It looked great, the action was over the top and wild, and it had some of the strangest monsters around because it wasn’t necessarily worried about making complete sense. This aim of style over substance not only made a great game, but one that would spawn a hugely successful series that’s beloved two decades on.

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Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay by Pat Cadigan - Book Review

 

'William Gibson's never-before-adapted screenplay for the direct sequel to Aliens, revealing the fates of Ripley, Newt, the synthetic Bishop, and Corporal Hicks. When the Colonial Marines vessel Sulaco docks with space station and military installation Anchorpoint, a new form of Xenomorph appears. Written by Hugo Award-winning novelist and "Queen of Cyberpunk" Pat Cadigan, based on Gibson's never-produced first draft.

'The Sulaco--on its return journey from LV-426--enters a sector controlled by the "Union of Progressive Peoples," a nation-state engaged in an ongoing cold war and arms race. U.P.P. personnel board the Sulaco and find hypersleep tubes with Ripley, Newt, and an injured Hicks. A Facehugger attacks the lead commando, and the others narrowly escape, taking what remains of Bishop with them.

'The Sulaco continues to Anchorpoint, a space station and military installation the size of a small moon, where it falls under control of the military's Weapons Division. Boarding the Sulaco, a team of Colonial Marines and scientists is assaulted by a pair of Xenomorph drones. In the fight Ripley's cryotube is badly damaged. It's taken aboard Anchorpoint, where Ripley is kept comatose. Newt and an injured Corporal Hicks are awakened, and Newt is sent to Gateway Station on the way to Earth. The U.P.P. sends Bishop to Anchorpoint, where Hicks begins to hear rumors of experimentation--the cloning and genetic modification of Xenomorphs.

'The kind of experimentation that could yield a monstrous hybrid, and perhaps even a Queen.'

A lot of Alien fans will be familiar with the troubled production around Alien 3. The film was given the go ahead and announced in cinemas with a release date before there was even a script or a director involved. After that, there were several pitches for scripts. One of which was produced by William Gibson, a prose writer best known for his cyberpunk work. Gibson proposed a script that would follow Hicks and Bishop, removing both Newt and Ripley from events due to the possibility that Sigourney Weaver would be unable or unwilling to reprise the role.

Despite this script never being made into the film it has remained within fan circles for decades, with dedicated Alien fans sharing it around online. Now, however, this script has been lovingly turned into a full novel by author Pat Cadigan, giving fans the best way to experience this strange 'What If?' scenario.

The book begins four years after the events of the second film, with the Sulaco floating through the vast void of space. The ship, and it's sleeping inhabitants, are heading towards Anchorpoint station when it accidentally drifts into the territory of the U.P.P., the 'Union of Progressive Peoples'. The U.P.P. sends a ship out to investigate why the military vessel is entering their space, but find no one on board who can explain what happened.

Upon entering the cryosleep chamber they're shocked to discover the half destroyed Bishop android has a strange egg growing out of him. The U.P.P. take Bishop with them, determined to find out what this means, but in the process the egg opens and they end up losing one of their crew to the strange creature that attacks them.

As the Sulaco continues on its way to Anchorpoint the U.P.P. mine through Bishops memories, discovering the existance of the Xenomorph. Fearing that their neighbours would try to clone the creatures for use as weapons the U.P.P. begins their own experiments into the deadly creatures.

When the Sulaco reaches Anchorpoint the personnel are shocked with what they find on board, particularly the strange alien DNA they find inside the discarded legs of Bishop. With Ripley in a coma, Hicks decides that he needs to send Newt back to Earth to be with her family whilst he tries to figure out what his next move is. Unfortunately for him, the company arrives on the scenes and begins to clone the alien DNA. When Bishop is sent back to Anchorpoint by the U.P.P., fully repaired, as a gesture of goodwill, the two survivors of LV-426 realise that company is about to unleash something deadly on the galaxy and decide to put an end to the experiments. However, the aliens have evolved in terrifying new ways.

One of the biggest surprises I had reading this book was how different the alien creatures were. I knew that the script did some different things, especially by sidelining Ripley, but I wasn't aware of how much the Xenomorphs were altered in this story. Instead of their regular life-cycle, which we still do see, the aliens are able to infect people like a virus. This is actually kind of similar to the black goo spores that would feature in Alien: Covenant. 

However, rather than this infection allowing the aliens to laid eggs inside people via airborne means, it does something much, much scarier. The infection converts the hosts into xenomorphs. One moment they're fine, and the next their skin starts to stretch and tear, and the host rips themselves apart as a fully grown alien emerges from within them. It's absolutely bonkers, and it really wouldn't have translated too well on screen, but in a book, where your imagination is doing a lot of the work it becomes some of the grossest, most frightening body horror around.

This new form of infection really ramps up the horror too, as you're never sure when a character could change, or who could be infected. With the regular facehuggers it's easy to know when people have been impregnated, but here you're always on your guard, waiting for someone to suddenly start changing. Cadigan uses this tension well, and it means that from the initial outbreak there's never a moment to really rest and relax. Even when the characters are spending a fleeting moment to rest as they try to make their way across the station to the escape vehicles, there's still a pervading sense of dread.

And it really is thanks to Pat Cadigan that the book feels this good. After reading the book I went and read the recently made graphic novel, which was actually based on the second draft of Gibson's script. Seeing the two different takes side by side, and how drastically different in tone they are really reinforced how it's often down to the person adapting the story that decides how good it ends up. In the graphic novel there was very little tension, the side characters felt flat and without character, and I was honestly bored throughout. This book, however, was so good in comparison. Cadigan spent the time building even minor characters, she made Anchorpoint feel like a big, lived in station, and she made it feel scary throughout.

There are small moments in the book that realistically don't add much to the story, little scenes that show the characters interacting that weren't in the script, and would never had been in a movie, but their inclusion in the book makes it feel bigger. I liked that we weren't just told some characters had a connection, but got to see it instead, we watched as people forged relationships, as they worried about each other. A lot of the characters went from bodies tagging along that you were waiting to be killed off to actual people who you were rooting to live, and who made you sad when they never made it.

It would be so easy to wave your hand and say that it doesn't matter who adapts a script, that anyone could have taken the source material and made a decent book out of it, but that's just untrue. Pat Cadigan took a script that was simply okay, and made it into a book that kept me hooked throughout. It might not be the Aliens that your used to, but it something so boldly different that you can't help but enjoy it.

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The Cat O’ Nine Tails (1971) – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Cat O’ Nine Tails, the second film from acclaimed Italian director Dario Argento, gets a beautiful 4K Blu-ray release from Arrow Video – but how does the director’s early work hold up?

The story follows a series of murders that surround the Terzi Institute – a medical facility where staff are researching into genetics – following a break-in where it appears nothing has been stolen. Before the break-in occurs we meet Franco Arno (Karl Malden), a blind former reporter, and his adopted daughter Lori (Cinzia de Carolis) as they walk to their home near the institute. Overhearing someone inside a car talking about blackmail, Arno gets his daughter to have a look, but she can only make out one of the men sitting inside.

Shortly after the break-in at the Institute, one of the scientists working there, Dr. Calabresi (Carlo Alighiero), falls in front of a train and is killed. Luckily, some photographers were on the scene waiting for the arrival of a celebrity, and managed to snap some pictures of the event. When it appears in the paper, Lori tells Arno that it’s the man she saw in the car. Arno takes this information to reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus), and through some quick investigating they discover that a hand can be seen on the un-cropped photograph, pushing Calabresi onto the tracks. Convinced that there’s a murderer on the loose the two men begin to work the case; but pretty soon more bodies start to pile up, and even Giordani and Arno become targets.

Despite Argento having helmed a hit with his first film, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, his second film was considered something of a flop when it first came out, with The Cat O’ Nine Tails receiving few official releases over the years. This new high definition release not only marks the best way to watch the film, but also gives viewers the opportunity to reevaluate their feelings on it. It has acquired something of a better reputation now, possibly in response to Argento’s more recent flops.

That being said, you can tell that this is one of his early works, as a lot of the features that would become iconic parts of his later films – such as extreme stylisation, and the supernatural –  are pretty much nonexistent here. There are a few moments across the film that feel very Argento, such as the insertion of extreme close-ups of the killer’s eye whenever they’re around, but for the most part it does feel like this is a movie that could have been directed by anyone. In a lot of ways it is a very ordinary, very middle of the road murder mystery story.

The films title refers to the number of suspects and lines of enquiry that the two investigators have to go through over the course of the film, and whilst for the most part the story is interesting enough it does tend to drag a little in places, possibly because there are one or two too many plots and characters thrown into the piece. The fun set pieces and interesting character moments feel somewhat lost within all of the excess at times, and perhaps if Argento had trimmed some of this down the film would have felt a little punchier, and would have maintained my interest.

Whilst the film is okay in itself it’s through the extra features that I found the most enjoyment. As with other Arrow releases for Italian cinema, the disc makes sure to include a lot of information and context for the movie. There are a number of interviews with cast and crew for the film, including Argento himself, as well as a brand new commentary track by film critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman, both of whom shed a lot of insight into both the making of the movie, and the broader context of Italian cinema and Argento’s work. Perhaps most interestingly, especially for long time Argento fans, is the lost alternate ending. Presented in English for the first time, these now missing scenes are presented in their original script form, revealing how the film was first intended to end before Argento made changes.

Arrow have released some terrific entries from Italian cinema over recent years, and The Cat O’ Nine Tails is a great addition to this range. It might not be the most exciting for casual viewers, but thanks to the engaging and informative extras, and a beautiful new 4K presentation, it’s an absolute must for any fans of the genre and Argento himself.

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #7 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The latest issue of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures continues where the last one left off, with a small group of Jedi trying to formalise their alliance with the criminal Hutt Cartel in order to combat the deadly Dengir; but someone’s taken over their ship and fired on the peace talks, resulting in our heroes either captured or on the run.

The issue opens in a similar way to the last one, with the padawan Farzala remembering watching holovideos in his youth, depicting the adventures of the legendary Jedi master Tal Bota. At first Farzala thinks of his old adoration of the stories to be foolish, and chastises himself for feeling fear now that he’s a prisoner of the Hutts. We even get a nod to other stories in The High Republic as he thinks of the great Jedi of his era that have been lost of killed in the fight against the Nihil and the Drengir.

This is what the focus of the issue really is, as we get to see Farzala coming to terms with the things that he’s been through, remembering the lessons taught to him by his own master, and realising that being without fear is impossible, but it’s his job to overcome the fear that he’s feeling. It’s a nice narrative journey for him, as whilst we’ve seen him overcoming some dangerous situations in past issues he’s always been surrounded by his friends. This is the first time that we see him having to get by on his own, and it gives us some more insight into the character that’s been fairly lacking up to this point. The flashback to his learning from his master is a particularly good moment, and a pretty poignant one too.

Elsewhere, the issue also checks in with the rest of the crew of Vessel, as well as fellow padawan Qort, who are currently trying to both hide from the mercenaries that have taken over the ship, as well as figuring out a plan to regain control. These segments are a lot of fun, especially when they start freaking out about how creepy Geode is (which is completely understandable).

If I have one criticism about the issue is that the story gets wrapped up a bit too quickly. I’ve found that this story has been a lot better than the initial arc for the series, and I’m a little disappointed that it wrapped up in just two issues. I’d have enjoyed spending longer on this story and seeing more time given over to the characters; but perhaps this is something that Daniel Jose Older will be exploring more in future instalments.

Harvey Tolibao and Rebecca Nalty provide the art and the colours for the issue respectively, and do a good job with things. Everywhere has a specific look to it, with the interior of Vessesl having blue shades to the panels, whilst the prison that Farzala is in has sickly green tones, and the flashbacks to his lessons with his master have rich oranges and reds. These distinct colour pallets mean that you instantly know where you are whenever the scenes change, and make it a lot easier to keep track of things without even realising you’re registering it. Tolibao does has some great moments with the artwork, with the few spots of action looking very nice, particularly the moment when Obratuk Glii deploys several light sabres with his many arms.

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures continues to be an entertaining and engaging book, one that seems to have found an excellent balance between action, story, and character development; a balance I hope continues into the future stories.

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The Final Child by Fran Dorricott - Blog Tour & Interview

 

'Erin and her brother Alex were the last children abducted by 'the Father', a serial killer who only ever took pairs of siblings. She escaped, but her brother was never seen again. Traumatised, Erin couldn't remember anything about her ordeal, and the Father was never caught.

'Eighteen years later, Erin has done her best to put the past behind her. But then she meets Harriet. Harriet's young cousins were the Father's first victims and, haunted by their deaths, she is writing a book about the disappearances and is desperate for an interview. At first, Erin wants nothing to do with her. But then she starts receiving sinister gifts, her house is broken into, and she can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. After all these years, Erin believed that the Father was gone, but now she begins to wonder if he was only waiting... '

The Final Child is a book that surprised me from the very first page. I guess I'm used to reading thriller books that aren't set within the UK, because as soon as I started reading this book and I was presented with a list of child abductions that took place around the area where I lived I had to take a moment to realise what I'd just read. From the first few pages I realised that this was not only going to be a book that felt more at home because it's a British murder mystery, but because I knew some of the places it was going to be happening in. I have to admit, it instantly won me over; and not once did Fran Dorricott let me down as the book went on.

The story of The Final Child follows two women, women who begin the story so closely connected even though they've never met before. Harriett is a former journalist who grew up hearing stories about how her cousins were taken by 'The Father', a serial kidnapper and killer of young siblings in the late 1990's. Having grown up knowing that her cousins young lives were brutally cut short, and seeing what this does to a family, Harriet has been working on a book about it.

Her book began as a way of her being able to process her own grief and issues with what happened, and slowly evolved into her wanting to tell the stories of not just her cousins, but all of the young victims of 'The Father'. Having seen how so many true crime fanatics and the press focus on the killer, often ignoring the victims, Harriet wanted to create something that celebrates and memorialises those who lost their lives to him.

Erin is one of 'The Father's' victims. The only child taken by him to ever be found alive. The final child. Having grown up being unable to remember what happened to her, but knowing that she and her brother were taken by a killer, and that her brother's body will probably never be found, Erin as tried to move, Alex, on with her life. She's tried to distance herself from her past as much as possible, changing her look, and even changing her name from Jilly to Erin.

One day, when visiting her mother, Erin meets Harriet, a young woman who has approached her mother wanting to learn more about her and Alex. At first she's pretty hostile towards Harriet, wanting nothing to do with this woman who seems to have barged into her life, wanting to drag up her past. However, strange things start to happen to Erin. She feels like she's being watched, and her house gets broken into. These incidents start to make her think of her past, and as such she agrees to speak to Harriet.

Together, the two young women begin to try to figure out what might have happened to 'The Father', if they're really dead, and if perhaps there were more victims of his out there. As their investigation begins to uncover new evidence it becomes clearer that someone's targeting Erin, and the two of them are now in danger. Could 'The Father' be back, or is this a deadly new stalker?

So often in stories where characters are looking into old cases, trying to figure out what really happened in the past, there's a lack of urgency to things. People get to spend a lot of time going from place to place, looking around at things, talking to person after person, putting the pieces of the mystery together as they see fit. The Last Child seems to buck this trend, however, as thanks to this shadowy figure that's messing with our two heroines there's a constant sense of danger lurking in the background. You're always waiting for something awful to happen, and it feels like Erin and Harriet have to find answers soon, before something terrible happens.

This sense of urgency and danger aren't just great for pacing and keeping the story story moving, but also as a way of pushing the relationship between the two leads. Over the course of the book we switch between narrators, and we get the chance to know Erin and Harriet quite well. At first, they seemed like the kinds of people who wouldn't really get along. Erin is closed off, afraid to let anyone in, and completely opposed to helping Harriet and her investigation; wanting nothing more than to just forget her past and live her life. Harriet also starts off feeling a bit self centred. She wants to finish her book, claiming that it's for all of the victims of 'The Father', but she keeps pushing at Erin, perhaps overstepping the mark a few times; and even refuses to think of her as Erin rather than Jillian, still thinking of her as the victim of 'The Father' rather than her own person.

But, this changes as the book goes on, and as the narrative keeps forcing the two of them together. Not only do they become friends, but it also very quickly becomes clear that there's something more to their feelings too. We learn very early on that Erin is attracted to women, but it isn't until she and Harriet begin to get close that we discover Harriet feels a similar attraction to her; though it does seem to be heavily implied that she's never been in any form of romantic situation with a woman before. What begins as a very strained relationship, where they're both keeping each other at arms length soon becomes this wonderful sapphic relationship where they're each trying to find the best way to be close to the other; and it was wonderful.

Perhaps it's simply down to the books I've been reading, but this might be the first time that a queer relationship has been given centre stage in a crime thriller book that I've read. And I loved it. Not only was it great to see two women being able to love each other, and come together during such an awful situation, but it made me smile every time they gingerly reached out to hold the others hand, or made to gently kiss the other, almost afraid of what might happen. It gave moments of tenderness and care in what might have otherwise been a brutal and unforgiving narrative.

Throughout the course off the book readers also get the chance to see things from the point of view of other characters, brief snippets that begin to shed light on what really happened in the past, and how things led to children being kidnapped and murdered. These moments were really interesting, and definitely expanded the narrative in interesting ways without giving too much away. There were a few times that these flashbacks, in conjunction with things happening in the present, really helped me as a reader to understand things, and I appreciated that Dorricott always held certain information back to keep the mystery going without it feeling forced. The stuff we learnt wasn't being intentionally vague or misleading to keep certain aspects as a surprise, which is an incredibly hard line to walk. But Dorricott did it expertly here.

There are some parts of the book that get very disturbing too, with death, torture, mutilation, and child harm being big parts of the book, but it never felt like any off it was being done in a way that was simply to gross out or disturb the reader purely for the sake of it. There are some awful things in this book, but it felt natural, it felt like something that no only is plausible, but something that you'd expect to see on a true crime television show. The book felt very grounded because of that, and there are times where it would make me think of real crimes and real killers because it felt so eerily familiar; and that was possibly the most disturbing aspect of the whole thing.

The Final Child is one of those books that I found hard to put down. It's a book where the narrative and the characters were so engrossing that I needed to keep reading to find out what happened next. I loved the people that inhabited the pages, I wanted them to be okay, and I'd love to read more about them, even if it's just their boring mundane lives. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did when I started, but it's easily become a firm favourite.

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Hi Fran, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions; I absolutely loved the book and am very excited to pick your brain for a bit.

Hi Amy! Thanks so much and I’m so glad you enjoyed The Final Child. Thanks for this interview opportunity!

The Final Child deals with some pretty dark subjects, but you managed to present the story in a very sensitive way and it never felt exploitative at all. Was this a hard thing to do, especially as these are things that can and do happen to real people?

Absolutely, yes. I’m very wary when I write that it’s easy to misjudge how dark is too dark when it comes to areas of focus in crime fiction, so I always make a concerted effort to write fiction that has balance. I usually attempt to do this by making sure that my focus is very human, on survivors rather than villains. This is partly why I chose to make Harriet’s mission to write a book about the children who were abducted, not about the villain who abducted them. Too often I think we are drawn to villains because we long to know what makes them tick, but in my opinion there is an element of responsibility if I write about that darkness to also demonstrate the way it impacts the survivors and their families, especially, as you say, as there are people these things have happened to.

The story felt very realistic, and if I’m completely honest it reminded me of a lot of true crime documentaries and articles I’ve seen over the years. Was it important to you that the book feel a lot more grounded than other mystery thrillers?

It’s definitely something I considered while writing the novel, yes. I think it’s important when writing quite dark thrillers to make sure that there is a strong element of realism to them because I don’t want to present this dark world in a light that invalidates the struggles of real-life survivors. That being said though, there’s something so addictive about true crime as a genre, as any fan knows – something that draws you in and keeps your attention until the end – and I wanted to channel that in my own work. I am a fan, especially, of the sort of slow-burn true crime documentaries that lay everything out to slowly build a picture, a picture which creeps insidiously into your brain while you’re trying to do other things until you can’t think about anything else. I wanted to get that same sense of creeping dread in Erin’s story.

What kind of research did you have to do whilst writing the book?

A lot! It might sound corny to say I watched a lot of true crime and listened to a lot of podcasts, but that’s how this novel started. I also had a lot of conversations and interviews with medical professionals and ex-police officers to make sure that the procedures in the book were as accurate as possible. It was surprising how much work it took to make sure everything felt authentic, given how much crime media I’ve consumed over the years, and I’m endlessly grateful to anybody who gave their time to help me out. The most interesting topic I found myself researching was the use of rescue and cadaver dogs by the police, a topic I’d never have thought would be so fascinating to me!

Your book is set in the East Midlands area, what made you choose this part of the UK for the book, was it just an area you’re familiar with, or was there something else that influenced your decision?

It was kind of a three-fold decision, really. Firstly, it is an area I know well, which does have certain benefits, but a lot of the locations within the book are fictionalised places that I created especially for the book because I wanted to give a sense of the area without being tied too closely to specific locations, for those people who haven’t ever visited the Midlands. The second reason is that I, as a reader, absolutely love reading about a variety of different places, and though there are a few authors who write books set in the East Midlands I think it’s really great to have a little diversity in setting in the British crime community! And, lastly, I decided to set the book around where I live because Derbyshire is an absolutely beautiful county; it’s so green, full of rolling farmland and woodland and gorgeous rocky outcrops, and I wanted a chance to capture some of that in my books, even if the circumstances are somewhat bleak.

One of the things that I loved about the book was the relationship that formed between Erin and Harriet, especially how at the beginning they seemed like they could end up not liking each other. What made you choose to have a sapphic love story as a major part of the book?

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community it’s always been super important to me that there’s more representation in fiction, because as a reader I love being able to see characters like myself. It makes the experience much less lonely! The reason I wanted it to be a core element of the story, without taking away from the central mystery, is that I like to read books with a central romance, and simply put I wanted to be able to write the kind of book I would enjoy reading. I’m a big fan of rivals/enemies to lovers type romances, and I wanted to play with the trope for Harriet and Erin’s relationship to show two characters who were impacted very differently by their experiences: one who becomes avoidant of the past, and the another who mires herself in it.

This is one of the first crime thrillers I’ve read where there’s a queer relationship as a main part of the narrative, and The Final Child has at least two represented in it. Do you think this is a genre where queer relationships aren’t given enough focus?

I think that crime fiction has always been really open to writers subverting tropes and presenting diverse characters, but queer crime novels historically haven’t always had the press or publicity of other genres. I think one of the best things about the crime publishing over the last few years is that is changing massively, and there are a lot more diverse titles and characters within them. I do wish it was even more common though, because it’s something I love to read so much! I would especially love more ‘incidentally queer’ characters, like the second couple in The Final Child, who appear only briefly but it is noted, because even small representation matters.

Your previous novel, After The Eclipse, also featured a storyline where awful things happened involving children, is this a theme that keeps coming back to you, and will you be exploring it more in the future?

Honestly, I’m not sure whether it’s something I will explore going forward. It’s not a topic I’m intentionally drawn to, but it’s genuinely one of the worst things I can imagine, which gives it a place in the fiction I write about the very worst of humanity. I am fully aware that it’s a sensitive topic, and that requires a large degree of care, but I’ve always used my fiction to explore things that make me sad or uncomfortable, and as a way of processing the world, so I suspect that’s why I’ve written about it more than once now – it haunts me.

Something that I think you did particularly well over the course of the book was the brief flashbacks involving the person committing the crimes. You managed to offer a load of insight into the kind of person it was and what motivated them, yet you were still able to keep exactly who they were a mystery. Was that something that you found hard to find a balance with?

Thank you! Flashbacks are one of my greatest writer loves. I think they’re a lot of fun to craft because they can give insight into the pivotal moments that make characters who they are, but I have to admit there were elements of the flashbacks in The Final Child that made them very challenging to write. Still, they’re probably a part of the book that I’m the most proud of, so although they were difficult to balance I think the rewards outweigh the trickiness!

Are you a big fan of true crime?

Yes! Less so in the last year or two (the pandemic has made my tastes run a little lighter lately) but it’s absolutely a genre I’ve always been drawn to. There’s something fascinating about seeing the worst in people and questioning what might have caused the behaviours of terrible people committing heinous acts, and in true crime, unlike a lot of crime fiction, we don’t always have the answers to those questions. It leads to the viewer trying to fill in a lot of blanks, and that kind of armchair detective behaviour can be pretty addictive!

What kind of books inspired you to want to become a writer yourself?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember so I can’t say for sure which authors lit the initial spark of love, but there have been many crime writers over the years whose books have held me captive and made me wish I could write as well as them. I started with Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and read a lot of procedurals by authors such as Patricia Cornwell, who I owe a lot to when it comes to my beginnings as a crime writer. I soon moved onto modern psychological thrillers; I’m a huge fan of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, and have recently loved books by S. K. Tremayne and Claire Fuller. Every time I read a novel I adore it inspires me to work harder, to write more, and to challenge myself to write new and exciting things.

What can we look forward to seeing from you next?

My next book is a psychological suspense novel due out in February 2022 called The Lighthouse, about a group of friends who stay in a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island for their ten year university reunion. On the first evening, someone goes missing – and when they find him, he’s terrified, but he won’t say a word about where he’s been, or acknowledge the unexplained things that begin to happen. Nothing will persuade James to give up the secrets of the island, but is he protecting his friends or leading them into more danger?

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Bald is Beautiful: A Letter For A Fabulous Girl by Carola Schmidt - Blog Tour

 

'Bald is Beautiful: A Letter For A Fabulous Girl is an inspiring and lovely illustrated letter for girls of any age who will go or already are bald. It's a perfect gift to send love to a powerful girl who needs to be reminded how beautiful and loved she is. It's not a book that explains scientific conditions, disease, and treatment. It's about love, beauty, happiness, and friendship when going through various changes in our lives.

'Bald is Beautiful comes like a hug, and it's the perfect gift for girls aged 4-100 years and up.'

Bald is Beautiful: A Letter For A Fabulous Girl isn't your average kids book. You won't find a story about a fun adventure inside these pages, and it's not just designed to be something frivolous to entertain you child before bed. This book has something else to offer.

The book, written by a Paediatric Oncology Phramacist Carola Schmidt, the book is designed to help people coming to terms with hair loss, specifically girls going through cancer treatment. But, this doesn't mean that the book is designed solely for this audience, as the messages within its pages apply to all people who go through hair loss.

Losing your hair can be an emotional thing, especially for girls, women, and female presenting people. Society has set it up so that it's okay for male presenting people to go bald, even if this can cause them distress, but not so for female presenting people. Girls and women can be mocked for losing their hair, made to feel less like people, and sometimes treated less than human. I know this, because I've been through it myself.

This book sets out to remind girls that losing their hair isn't the end for them, that their hair isn't really that important. It tells them that it's not their hair that makes them special or wonderful, but who they are that matters. The book shows them that they can still live their lives, can still have friends and enjoy a good time, whether they have hair on their head, or a scarf, or a hat.

Like I said before, there's not really a narrative structure to the book, it doesn't follow a girl losing her hair and learning to live with it; instead, it talks directly to the reader. It tells them that things are going to be okay. It tells them that they're strong and wonderful and fabulous. It removes the middle-man of the storybook narrative and instead gives positive affirmation and encouragement to those who need it directly.

This isn't a book that everyone's going to pick up, it's not going to be something that every kid is going to need; but for those that do need it, for those that need that positive message and that helping hand it's going to be a book that means a lot. Bald is Beautiful: A Letter For A Fabulous Girl is one of those special books that could actually go on to change lives for the better.

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Jakob’s Wife – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Vampires have been used as a metaphor for sex and sexuality for a long time, since Dracula first made his appearance in print, seducing Lucy Westenra and turning her into a creature of the night. So often we see vampires luring in and seducing young men and women, allowing them to explore parts of themselves they’ve always been too afraid to examine. But it’s not often that we see vampires used to explore sex and sexuality in older characters. Jakob’s Wife bucks this trend, as we watch as Anne (Barbara Crampton), the wife of a small town minister, the titular Jakob (Larry Fessenden), finds her life changing after an encounter with a vampire.

The film opens with Anne as a dutiful and meek pastor’s wife, listening to her husband make boring and bland sermons about following the biblical versions of marriage, of how wives must honour their husbands, and how husbands must protect their wives. Straight away we see that Anne finds these sentiments less that engaging, almost staring daggers at her husband. And when we see their home lives be begin to understand why, as Jakob always interrupts Anne, how he expects a cooked breakfast every morning, and the two of them barely talk.

After meeting up with an old boyfriend of hers, who has been hired to renovate the old town mill by the historical society (which Anne is a part of), the two of them are attacked by a shadowy figure. Returning home, covered in blood, Anne finds herself changing. She’s not hungry anymore, she’s stronger and fitter, and she no longer wants to simply exist in her old role. At first Jakob suspects Anne is having an affair, but when he’s attacked by a vampire himself he realises Anne has been turned. This sees him vowing to hunt down and kill the ‘Master’ vampire to save Anne from her curse.

The sudden shift in the relationship between Anne and Jakob is the highlight of the movie, as we see the change in Anne bring out different sides in the two of them. Anne feels freer than she ever has before. She walks with confidence, she dresses well, she exudes sensuality and grace, whilst Jakob suddenly sees himself as a weapon of God, fighting to save his wife from the clutches of evil.

Jakob’s Wife is really a look at marriage, in particular a long marriage that’s stuck in a rut and ‘traditional’ roles. It examines what happens when an older woman has had enough and decides to change, being allowed to be more herself after decades in a role she never really wanted. Because despite being turned against her will Anne enjoys the changes happening to her, she likes who she’s becoming. On the flip side of this Jakob is at times terrified of his wife, but also strongly attracted to this new her, aroused in ways you can tell he’s not been in years. The changes create conflict between the two of them, and the film walks a fine line of exploring a relationship that could come together stronger than every, or completely fall apart depending on how the two of them proceed from this point.

The film also makes the very clever decision to have the vampire who turned Anne, played by Bonnie Aarons of The Conjuring and The Nun fame, rather than a man. Instead of a mysterious male vampire coming in and causing a sexual awakening within Anne through seduction it’s a female vampire who does it because she can see the potential in Anne and wants to free her from the shackles of a joyless marriage. It’s something that’s pretty uncommon in vampire stories, and one that’s explored brilliantly by the main cast.

It’s not just all exploring marriage though, as the film manages to pack in a lot of dark humour, very deftly waking the line between horror and comedy, doing it better than a lot of films that try the same. The film is also helped by the over the top effects, with blood spraying like someone’s shooting cherryade through a fireman’s hose, and a vampire that looks like a dodgy Nosferatu cosplay. It adds a level of charm and ridiculousness to proceedings, that along with a sharp script, make it a really enjoyable experience.

Jakob’s Wife is a fun movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, that has some genuinely great laughs, some spooky moments, and some great dramatic scenes. It tries to do something new and interesting with vampire mythology, and thanks to a great cast and solid script, it works really well.

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

When Star Wars The High Republic began,, Disney announced a whole slate of different books and comic series that fans could look forward to. There were novels, ongoing comics, children’s books, a VR game, and some comic mini-series, that would all join together to make one exciting new era to explore. After a long wait the first of the comic mini-series is finally here; Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – The Monster of Temple Peak by Cavan Scott.

Having written the main series of comics with Marvel since the beginning of The High Republic, this new title definitely feels like a different kind of animal from the regular The High Republic Adventures series. Scott instantly brings a very different feel to the book, one that sets it apart from others, and this is in large part due to the type of story it’s telling, as well as the characters it’s focusing on.

Whilst the other comic series have been exploring the Jedi order, the forces of the Nihil, and the monstrous Dengir, this book is setting itself apart from the wider universe, for the first issue at least, by taking a look at someone who isn’t involved in the bigger story. We join Ty Yorrick, a former Jedi padawan who’s left the order and become a monster hunter on the Outer Rim of the galaxy.

Ty instantly stands out as someone different, a new kind of protagonist that we get to follow. In the rest of the Star Wars universe we either see Jedi as respected leaders and advisers, helping those in need, or brave freedom fighters battling against the forces of the Empire or the First Order. Here, Ty is just someone trying to get by. She has Jedi powers, and a pretty cool light sabre, but she isn’t a part of anything bigger than her day to day life of travelling the galaxy trying to earn some credits. We get hints that there might be something more to her leaving the Jedi than simply walking away, and she seems to want to avoid running into any of them, but she’s certainly not on the run like some of the other heroes in Star Wars.

It’s incredibly refreshing to have a light side Force user who’s not trying to bring peace to the galaxy, who isn’t fighting against evil, but simply living their life. It’s also something that feels really new, a part of this universe that we’ve never really had the chance to explore much. There have been hints that people have walked away from the Jedi order before (the Lost Twenty in the prequel era for example), and we’ve seen a few people who have turned their backs on the Jedi, but they invariable come to end up as part of the bigger story, battling on the side of good or evil (Count Dooku, Asaaj Ventress, and Ahsoka Tano immediately come to mind). I’d not only extremely excited to see what led Ty to leave the order, but what her life outside of it is like.

Ty is joined on her travels by her droid, KL03, or Kayel for short. She seems to be left behind to look after Ty’s ship whenever she’s out doing things, communicating with Ty from safety, but rather than being a helpful voice in her ear Kayel seems to be something of a scolding mother figure. She’s constantly reminding Ty that she needs to be focusing on the job at hand, and that they need to be earning money to keep the ship running. It’s a nice dynamic, and one that I hope we continue to explore as the story progresses.

The art of the book is absolutely gorgeous, with Rachel Stott bringing some wonderfully clean and crisp line-work to the illustrations. Stott fills every panel with detail, making it feel like a big, lived in universe; but is also able to bring a lot of energy and movement to the action sequences. Vita Efremova and Nicola Righi supply the colours for the book, and do a great job. The issue takes place across several environments, and they all manage to look and feel different, in large part thanks to the colour work being done.

Star Wars The High Republic Adventures: The Monster of Temple Peak is one of the better entries in the entire High Republic series to date, and easily the most entertaining first issue across the different comic series. It’s taking readers in some exciting new directions, and I’m eagerly anticipating the next issue.

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Granny's Little Monsters by Karen McCombie - Book Review

'Zac and Essie have been helping their Granny Mo in her search for the perfect pet. She's tried everything - cats, bunnies, even axolotls! - and she just can't find the right one.

'But when the trio go mudlarking in the riverbank, they find a creature unlike anything else. Granny Mo might have set out to look for a pet, but now she's got a monster on her hands and it's about to get up to some mischief!'

Granny's Little Monsters is one of the latest releases from children'd publisher Barrington Stoke Books, and it's a little book packed full of fun.

The story follow Zac and Essie, two cousins who spend their Saturdays with their Granny Mo. They look forward to their weekend adventures with their granny. And one day when visiting her they're surprised to find a cat in her house. But, it's not her cat. You see, Granny Mo has decided that she wants a pet, but isn't sure what kind of animal is going to be the best fit for her. So she's borrowed a cat from her friend.

After the cat trashes her house she thinks something else might be the better choice. Over the next several weeks Mo and the kids try out different animals, bunnies, snakes, and even a chicken. But nothing seems to be the best fit. 

One weekend, having seemingly given up looking for an animal friend, Granny Mo takes Essie and Zac down to the riverbank to do some mudlarking. But there's something unusual in the mid, some kind of creature that none of them have ever seen before. Taking it home with them, they're shocked to discover that its a strange little monster.

Karen McCombie makes this book a lot of fun, even from the first pages where we haven't even gotten into the main story yet there's a lot of fun to be had with the story. Zac and Essie are instantly likeable protagonists, and despite competing with each other all the time you can tell that they care about each other, and that they both deeply love their Granny.

Granny Mo is the kind of older woman I think most of us want to end up being like. She's fun, independent, and knows what she wants; for the most part anyway. Yes, she might not know what kind of animal is going to be the best fit for her, but other than that she seems to be a take charge kind of woman, someone who would very quickly stand up for themselves, or would decide she's going to do something just because she wants to, and to hell with anyone making her feel bad or silly about her choices.

The early parts of the book are quite enjoyable, and seeing her go through her selection of different animals, trying to figure out which one would be best for her is amusing. And as someone who has three house bunnies I can confirm what Granny Mo goes through here is quite true; as cute as they are they love to chew the house up. I don't think we've got any undamaged skirting boards left in the entire house anymore.

The real fun part of the book is when the three characters go mudlarking, though, and the strange little creature that they find hiding in the muck at the waters edge. Having seen the cover illustration part of me was expecting it to be a literal mud monster, but after taking it home and giving it a wash readers get to see what's underneath all that mud, and it's really kind of cute. McCombie manages to craft a really interesting little monster in this book, one that I wanted to see more of, and was a little sad to see go by the end.

The book is also filled with some great illustrations that really help the story to come to life. Lee Cosgrove provides both the cover art for the book, as well as the illustrations dotted throughout. These illustrations make some of the key scenes really come to life, and help to create the creature by giving it a very clear, and cute, look. I really liked his art on this story, and found myself hoping each new page would bring another great picture with it.

Granny's Little Monsters is a quick read, and the story is so fun and well paced that I imagine you're little ones would want to finish it in one go. Luckily, there's enough there for adults to enjoy too that I think you'll also have a lot of fun with this title. A genuine pleasure to read.

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