The Road of Danger – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Road of Danger is the ninth entry in the Republic of Cinnabar Navy series by David Drake, and continues the epic space adventures of Captain David Leary.

With peace between The Republic of Cinnabar and The Alliance of Free Stars, and most of humanity split between the two, Leary and his ship, the Princess Cecile, are sent on s secret mission to try and locate a Cinnabar citizen that is trying to reignite war. Joined by his good friend and spy Adele Mundy, Leary find themselves in a wild chase to prevent war.

The Road of Danger is less a military action story with armies facing off across a battlefield and more an intriguing spy drama involving plot twists, double crosses, and secret agendas. Whilst this would prove to be a challenge to characters in many books here David Leary and Adele Mundy prove to be more than capable of handling the challenges.

The two lead characters are the best at what they do, Adele is the cold, pragmatic intelligence officer who prefers to keep people at a distance and spend time with facts and figures rather than feelings, and Leary is the suave navy officer with a love of history, and great instincts. Whilst they are fun characters, and move the story along in good ways, if I’m being honest they at times feel a little too competent at times. Adele comes across as an infallible super-spy in the mould of James Bond. Thankfully, the two leads are a partnership of equals, with both of them getting the opportunity to shine throughout the course of the book.

I don’t want to go into too much plot detail here as I don’t want to spoil the many twists and turns that the reader will experience, but Drake manages to craft an engaging and interesting tale that spans across multiple worlds, varied factions, and includes some well written action sequences.

The book has a strong influence from the Vietnam war, which David Drake served in. The characters visit worlds that are home to rice patties, where the local population are ruled by corrupt and incompetent leaders. Whilst not enough in itself to summon images of the Vietnam War, a military leadership that is a times incompetent and other points outright corrupt it’s not hard to see where Drake may have found some of his influences.

The Road of Danger is a space opera at heart, filled with space battles, melodrama, and over the top set-pieces. It’s a solid and entertaining story that will keep you engaged throughout. A definite recommendation for fans of science fiction, action adventure, or spy intrigue.


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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×13 – ‘T.R.A.C.K.S.’ – TV Rewind

Originally published on Set The Tape

T.R.A.C.K.S. is the season one episode that a lot of people will take notice of and remember for one very specific reason: the Stan Lee cameo. It’s not a Marvel production until Stan The Man turns up. In all seriousness, this episode proves to be very fun, clever, and moves the story forward in some great ways.

Having continued their hunt for the evil businessman Ian Quinn (David Conrad) the S.H.I.E.L.D. team discover that he has purchased some advance technology from Cybertek Industries, which is being transported to his private estate in Italy by train. The team plan to steal the tech by infiltrating the team posing as ordinary passengers. However, as this is television the plan immediately falls apart.

The central feature of the episode, retelling the same events from different points of view to fill the audience in on what has happened has been done before, and can sometimes be a bit boring, but the writers use the concept very well here, especially when it gives some surprising reveals. Each section of the episode follows a different member of the team, giving each of the main cast a moment to shine.

The stand out is easily Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) who sneaks through the train, runs across the roof in a cat suit, parachutes, steals a car, and takes down a room full of bad guys. May has always been the secret weapon of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team but watching her in this episode it’s easy to see her as an agent on the same level as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and fighting alongside the Avengers.

Despite being full of spy intrigue and action the episode also packs in some great comedic beats, with Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) and her overly prepared backstory about Coulson (Clark Gregg) being her distant father who cheated on her mother being one of the best moments of the season. It’s great to see Jemma so flustered and panicked, as she does it so well, and Coulson trying to process what she’s doing and not break his cover, whilst being chastised by Stand Lee, is a particularly great turn from Clark Gregg.

The biggest developments in the episode come in the final few minutes, however, when it’s finally revealed just which comic book character J. August Richards is playing, when Mike Peterson is implanted with cybernetic devices from the ‘Deathlok’ program. With so much speculation over who Richards would be revealed to be Deathlok was certainly not a character that I’d seen mentioned, but it works well. The character has decades of comic book history and connections with characters from across the Marvel universe, but remains fairly unknown to the casual reader, allowing the series to be able to do almost whatever they want with the character.

The episode ends with a bang (sorry for the bad pun) as Skye (Chloe Bennet) is shot twice in the stomach by Quinn. With her life on the line the team are forced to take desperate actions in order to keep her alive. With Skye’s life far from saved the series seems poised to keep up it’s faster momentum.

T.R.A.C.K.S. takes some of the standard television formulas and puts the Marvel spin on things, adding new tech and innovations that are sure to reappear again in the future, as well as sneakily adding a new comic book character to the series. Each character gets a moment in the spotlight, and the actors all get to play to their strengths before a dramatic finale that leads to some exciting developments. An episode that shows how good the show can be, and possibly one of the best in the series so far.


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The Flash 5×01 – ‘Nora’ – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Flash returns to our screens with huge changes this season as the show picks up directly where the last season ended, with the daughter of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy), having travelled back in time and becoming trapped.

Having seen Nora appear a number of times throughout Season 4 the show managed to build an air of mystery around the character, though many fans managed to figure out who she was long before the on screen reveal. Despite many of her mysteries having been revealed in this first episode, though not all of them, the character hasn’t completely lost that sense of mystery, but manages to become a bright, wonderfully fun new addition to the cast.

The majority of the episode centres on Nora, even the opening and closing narration is done by her instead of her father, with the villain of the week being elegated to a minor annoyance. Nora even points out that Gridlock (Daniel Cudmore) was a ‘one and done’ villain according to the Flash Museum records. Sometimes the meta-human of the week routine can get quite dull, especially when it’s done so often at the beginning of a new season, but it’s easy to overlook that here as the story of Nora, and her time with Barry, is so much more important.

As many fans had theorised over the break between seasons, Nora had travelled back in time to see her dad because he isn’t around in her time. This isn’t really a surprise as the show pretty much gave us this information way back in the very first episode with the newspaper from the future telling us the the Flash ‘disappears in crisis’. This episode builds on that, with Nora showing another future headline stating that the Flash has been gone for 25 years. Eagle-eyed viewers can also spot a few additional hints in the text of these papers, but it’s quite hard to do without pausing the screen and getting very close.

The news that Barry disappears for what could be forever in this upcoming crisis is a big moment for him, as it tells him that this is probably one ‘death’ that he can’t cheat, and most importantly, that he’ll never get to have a life with his daughter. This becomes the emotional heart of the episode, and could go on for most of the season. Barry loves his family dearly, and the knowledge that he won’t be there for his daughter visually tears him apart. His decision to keep Nora around rather than sending her back to the future might not be the smartest choice, but it’s the one that makes sense emotionally. Barry wants to be a father now because he knows he can’t be later.

Whilst the new dynamics and emotional story that Nora brings to the season are great, one of the other side effects of having a character from the future in the show now is that she gets to hint at so many things that could happen in the Arrowverse one day. She mentions King Shark fighting Gorilla Grodd (please god let us see this on scree!), name drops heroes such as Ryan Choi’s Atom and Lightning Lad from the Legion of Superheroes, and brings up the Flash Museum. The best thing she brings with her, however, is the new costume.

The episode also managed to add some additional developments outside of the Barry/Nora plot, exploring further into the Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) plot to bring back killer frost, with Ralph (Hartley Sawyer) managing to discover that Caitlin’s father appears to have faked his death. The episode also highlights the fact that Ralph wasn’t around much in the previous season, poking fun at this with his lack of knowledge of time travel and the multi-verse in some really fun scenes. Hopefully this is the production team acknowledging that he wasn’t full used last year and that they intend to correct that.

Overall Nora proved to be an incredibly strong opening episode for Season 5, possibly one of the best season openers that the series has had for quite a while. The character dynamics are great, the new costume is fun and interesting, and Nora is a brilliant addition to the cast filled with energy and a sense of joy.


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Star Wars Resistance 1×01/02 – TV Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Following the massive critical and fan success of both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, new Disney series Star Wars Resistance had big shoes to fill. In the build up to its release, the reaction to the show has been mixed, with some people disliking the drastic change in art style, the apparent lack of any Jedi, and some even disliking that the show wasn’t going to continue some of the plot threads left over at the end of Star Wars Rebels.

Despite a lot of vocal fans decrying the show before it had even aired, the reaction to the first episode, entitled ‘The Recruit’, seems to have won audiences over with its bright and beautiful animation, new characters, and sense of fun adventure.

The story is set several months before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and follows young New Republic pilot Kazuda ‘Kaz’ Xiono (Christopher Sean) as he finds himself being drawn into the fledgling Resistance. Having gotten hold of some intel that hints that the First Order may be planning a strike on the New Republic, Kaz agrees to help Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) by going undercover to find a spy on the planet Castilon.

So, we know what this attack is going to be and how it’s going to come about thanks to the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so there’s no mystery there, but the hidden spy on the Colossus fuelling station is a good enough mystery to get the series started. The platform is a unique looking place, somehow reminiscent of the wider Star Wars universe, yet looking very new.

The Colossus itself is packed with a huge variety of species for the series to show off and dozens of potential suspects for Kaz to have to investigate. There are races from the original trilogy, such as Rodians and Bith, there’s a number of pit droids and an Aleena from the prequel films, to sequel trilogy species like Abednedo and Crolutes. Despite all of these races making an appearance, the show is still able to add its own unique looking designs, with junk shop owners Orka (Bobby Moynihan) and Flix (Jim Rash) being particular stand outs.

There’s little focus on Kaz’s mission in these opening episodes, with time being given over to establishing the world instead. Because of this, there is a bigger focus on racing. It’s hard to know how much a part of the series this is going to be going forward, but considering there’s at least four other big name pilots that Kaz has yet to face, I’d imagine his racing career is going to be intertwined with his spy mission quite a bit. And after two shows about fighting huge foes, along with the Jedi and Sith, a smaller scale story like this is actually a nice change of pace.

The animation style also helps with this too, with the new cell shaded look a big leap away from the previous shows that utilised CGI animation. The new looks makes Star Wars Resistance look brighter and more colourful than either The Clone Wars or Rebels were able to be; and along with some fun comedy moments, helps to create an opening that feels somehow less oppressive and more enjoyable.

I can’t help but feel that this is an intentional choice on the part of the creators, and particularly Dave Filoni. This is set in a time period before the First Order started their campaign on the galaxy, when the New Republic was in power and people didn’t believe war was coming. It was a time of relative peace and harmony, and the tone of the series seems to be reflecting this. If the series continues to the point of the new films, I’d be very interested to see if the visual style alters to show this darker period, especially as Kaz’s father is a New Republic senator, and in theory will die during the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars Resistance is a bright and engaging new series with some good universe building in a time period we known virtually nothing about. The opening episodes don’t delve too deeply into the series plot, but chose to spend some time building their new world and establishing the new cast of characters. With the previous two Star Wars animated programmes having achieved such great heights in quality, it’s safe to say that this could be the beginning of something special.


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Serpent – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Psychological thriller Serpent tells the story of Gwynneth (Sara Dumont) and Adam (Tom Ainsley), a married couple who travel to South Africa so that Tom can study a rare beetle. However, things aren’t the great when the two of them become trapped in their tent with a deadly Black Mamba, and Tom discovers that Gwynneth has been having an affair.

The concept of Serpent isn’t a bad one, that of being trapped in a confined space with one of the most venomous and aggressive snakes in the world, but the film can’t survive solely on this. There is only so much of two people laying in a tent not moving you can watch before it becomes boring. As such, the film has to bring something extra to the table.

Writer and director Amanda Evans chose to make a relationship drama; again, this isn’t a bad choice. Whenever people are trapped in dangerous situations together, personal interactions can be pushed to the extreme and relationships can be strengthened or destroyed completely. However, the biggest issue is that it’s hard to care about Gwynneth and Adam.

They’re the only characters in the film and as such it’s down to them to populate this world for the audience. Gwynneth starts the film apparently trying to break off her affair (although it’s hard to tell for certain as she never states this once). She is ignoring calls and from whomever it is that she’s been sleeping with. It gives the sense that she’s trying to get away from him and wants to rededicate herself to her marriage, especially when she begs Adam to take her with him on his trip.

It’s easy to see why she would have an affair and hard to understand why she wants to be with Adam as the two of them have very little chemistry. The film is filled with long, awkward silences between them, one of them walking off screen instead of answering a question, or long glaring looks. They feel like a couple whose relationship is already long over.

Whilst you could chalk this up to Adam having been suspicious of Gwynneth having an affair it’s pretty obvious by his reaction when he finds the messages on her phone that he’s taken completely by surprise. That actually leads me to one of my biggest issues with the relationship drama between the two of them.

Adam uses her phone’s screen light to try and distract the snake whilst inside the tent. He picks up her phone and it immediately unlocks, bringing her texts with her mystery man up on screen. Now, anyone who is seriously cheating on a partner would have a lock on their phone, would not have the messages open ready as soon as the phone unlocks, and if the affair is over, they would delete all of those messages. The fact that as soon as Adam touches her phone all the evidence pops up on screens is incredibly convenient for the plot and unbelievable for real life.

With the added realisation that his wife has cheated on him, Adam discovers that he’s trapped in a tent with two serpents (I see what the film did there). Whilst most people would probably shelve this issue until they’re more hand inches away from a horrible death, Adam decides that it’s a perfect time to pin his wife down and try to strangle her to death. His pregnant wife I might add.

The cheating wife trope, the unfiltered physical violence he enacts upon her, the use of Serpent as the title, and the poster of the snake slithering over a woman’s mouth in a mock shushing finger pose all make the film feel very misogynistic and a little sexist. It plays up to tired old tropes and hackneyed storylines that not only feel out of place for 2018, but astounding when considering they were written by a woman.

The actual snake feels very secondary for much of the film, only really coming into play in the final act when both parties end up bitten. Luckily they have some meds that will save them, but only enough for one person. What kind of person goes out into an area they know is full of dangerous snakes and only brings the one dose? Seriously?

The ambiguous ending is both incredibly grim and unsatisfying. The personal drama feels strangely forced and the relationship between the two characters is mostly unbelievable. Despite some brilliant performances from Dumont and Ainsley, the film ends up feeling drab, overly long and very underwhelming.


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