Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle returns readers to the fiery planet of Mustafar, where Darth Vader’s imposing castle still looms over the beleaguered native people, even after the fall of the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor, and the death of the dreaded Dark Lord himself.

Written by veteran Star Wars author Cavan Scott, the book manages to pack a load of stories and art styles into its pages. The first of these stories takes readers back in time to the events of Revenge of the Sith, where recently fallen Anakin Skywalker comes to Mustafar for the first time.

The story follows Kakan, a young Mustafarian who’s dreamt of seeing a Jedi his entire life. Having grown up on stories of these amazing force users and protectors of the innocent, he’s thrilled when rumour reaches him of a Jedi on his planet. Running to the lava mines, he finally gets to see one of these legendary warriors, before realising this is no guardian of the Light. The fallen Anakin chases the child deep into the mines, desperate to eliminate him so there are no witnesses. However, deep in the mines Anakin is exposed to the hallucinogenic toxins in the mists, and is driven further to the dark side because of it.

This story might be pretty short, but it’s one of the ones that I enjoyed most in this collection, mostly because it adds more to events we’re already familiar with. Instead of Anakin having come to Mustafar to kill the Separatist leaders and just waiting for Obi-Wan to come he’s an active force, and the mental torture he goes through when confronted by the twisted, demonic shades of his former Jedi friends adds more weight to his fall to the dark side, and makes it feel more justified. It’s also great to see these twisted versions of heroes like Plo Koon, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Ahsoka Tano.

The rest of the issue jumps forwards more than two decades, to the time of the fall of the Galactic Empire. Just following the Battle of Endor, and the death of Vader, some of the locals are discussing the fact that the castle still stands, and two of them take it upon themselves to infiltrate the castle, and use detonators to destroy it from the inside. During this adventure we get three more stories, as they’re warned against going into the castle, hear a tale of Vader’s cruelty, and try to scare each other with tales of dark side sorcery. Each of these stories is tackled by different artists, and makes them instantly jump out from the main story that’s being used as a framing device.

One of these stories reveals more of the backstory of Vanee, the dark cloaked attendant to Vader seen briefly in Rogue One, as well as several other Star Wars comics, though it being a secondhand tale means that this story might not be entirely true, but merely conjecture. Either way, it offers some fascinating insight into the origin of the character,m and ties into the first story in the book.

There’s also a story that sees a young Twi’lek girl being sent to retrieve a special crystal by a mysterious cloaked figure with powers that’s definitely Palpatine, as well as a story where a scientist tries to double cross Vader. The book is packed with small stories and vignettes that add more to the vast chronicles of the horrors that the Sith lords have committed, and helps to make the star wars universe feel a little more lived in, and shows that Vader and his master were always doing something, always working on one scheme or another.

Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle manages to pack in a lot of content, and give insight into characters fans will be familiar with, as well as introducing some new and scary ideas into the lore. It even manages to set the stage for a potentially very exciting new story to come in Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle, which could have some huge implications for the ever expanding Star Wars universe. A great one-shot that offers good value for money.

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Goosebumps: Secrets of the Swamp #2 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Goosebumps: Secret of the Swamp returns for a second issue, continuing the adventures of Blake and Lilly as they head into the monster-infested swamp surrounding their town.

The first issue of this series was a really great introduction, and showcased these characters a lot; unfortunately, issue #2 really suffers by being a middle issue, and because the characters are left spending every single page either running through the woods to escape werewolves, or arguing with each other, nothing much actually happens here. The issue begins with the two leads being confronted by a trio of huge wolf monsters wearing ragged clothes, forcing the teens to flee into the woods to escape.

After managing to get away from the beasts the two girls get into an argument about why they even came into the woods in the first place, with Blake feeling like she’d been lied to by Lilly. Lilly, on the other hand, suddenly reveals that her parents perform patrols of the swamp, equipped with weapons in order to protect the town from the monsters within. She even gives Blake a special net launching ball to help defend herself with. Unfortunately, this revelation can’t be gone into in any great depth as they’re once again beset by werewolves, and have to run for their lives.

And that’s pretty much everything that happens in issue two. Obviously the conversations between the two girls are longer, and the running through the woods is a bit more dramatic, but nothing is really added to the story this issue, other than a vague hint that there might be something more going on that Blake is unaware of.

I honestly don’t think this is any fault of the writer, Marieke Nijkamp, but more down to the fact that comic structures often mean that some issues are left hanging for content, and when viewed on their own can feel like something of a letdown. However, in combination with the previous issue this is a pretty solid second part, and sets stuff up nicely for the third issue. The art by Yasmin Florez Montanez is also still superb, and I love how she draws the characters and puts a lot of life and emotion into them during both the chase sequences and the arguments.

Whilst this issue on its own isn’t brilliant, I’m still enjoying the series as a whole, and very much looking forward to seeing what happens next.

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Marvel Xavier's Institute: Liberty and Justice for All by Carrie Harris - Book Review

 

'Two young mutants take on the X-Men’s greatest foes single-handedly, in this breakneck superhero adventure from the extraordinary realm of Marvel comics

'It’s exam time at Xavier’s Institute, and young mutants Tempus and Triage are barely surviving the Danger Room. Newly teamed up for a solo X-Copter flight exam, they approach Chicago unaware that Sentinels – giant Mutant-hunting robots – have attacked the Field Museum of Natural History. When they receive an SOS from the notorious Sabretooth, requesting help for wounded anti-mutant politician Graydon Creed, Triage is all for calling it in. But Tempus sees an opportunity to test their healing and time-manipulating powers for real. Whether it’s a trap or a chance for peace, the two students face their greatest challenge, and the X-Men’s worst enemies. '

Comics can be hard to translate into other mediums, especially into prose novels, largely due to the very visual nature of the types of stories they tell. It can be easy to make huge battles with super powered beings look big and bold and entertaining in a comic, but sometimes that kind of action can be dull when it comes to prose, and stories can drag. This is why it's great whenever you can find a writer who's able to translate the characters and stories in ways that manage to keep the excitement of the source material; and Carrie Harris' Liberty and Justice For All is definitely a case of it working well.

Rather than trying to adapt a preexisting comic story, Harris has chosen instead to craft her own tale, one that focuses on two of the newer characters in the X-Men canon. Set after the events of X-Men: Schism, the book follows a number of the students in the New Charles Xavier School For Mutants in the old Weapon X facility in Canada. The book fits neatly into a definable time period in the myriad X-Men events and status changes, yet doesn't step on the toes of any pre-existing story, allowing it to do its own thing.

The book focuses on two of the newer X-students, Eva Bell and Christopher Muse, who would take on the mutant code names Tempus and Triage respectively. Despite the two of them going on to play big roles in the Marvel universe, especially Eva as a member of The Five, this is still early days for the two young mutants, and they've only been with the X-Men for a relatively short period. Having been cooped up in the gloomy Weapon X facility for weeks, except for a brief adventure in Limbo, the teens are beginning to go a little stir crazy, resulting in some of the students failing to survive a Danger Room session.

Despite this, Eva and Christopher have been working hard, and quickly latch on to each other as partners for the upcoming X-Copter evaluation, knowing that they're the two most likely to take the test seriously. It also means that they'll get the chance to leave the facility for a while, even if it is just to fly the helicopter for a few hours. Whilst on the test the two of them receive a distress call from the former villain Sabertooth, requesting their assistance.

Knowing that Sabertooth has been a vicious mercenary and killer in the past, and that they're only supposed to be proving that they can safely pilot the X-Copter, they're reluctant to help, but eventually decide to land in Chicago so that they can provide assistance. However, they soon discover more than they bargained for when they find Sabertooth with an injured Graydon Creed, the former presidential candidate who campaigned for mutant extermination, as learn that they're being hunted by mutant killing machines, the Sentinels. Working alongside the two former enemies of the X-Men, Eva and Christopher must try to get to the bottom of the mystery and survive long enough to get back to the school.

I've been a fan of the X-Men for a long while, but have to admit that I've found myself drifting away from many of the X-Men books in recent years, and as such this was my first real experience with both Eva and Christopher. Being introduced to any new heroes can be a bit daunting if you've been out of the loop for a while, but Harris made it so easy to get to know both of these characters, and I had a good understanding of who they were, and what motivated them way before they even ended up getting involved in their mission. They were written so clearly, and with enough care that not only did I never feel like I was having to play catch-up with the comics, but I left the book wanting to spend more time with the two of them; I even went and researched which comics I could find them in.

It wasn't just the two leads who had a chance to shine, however, as both Sabertooth and Graydon Creed were written incredibly well. I've had a soft spot for a good Sabertooth since reading the Age of Apocalypse and Exiles comics, so the fact that the 616 universe Sabertooth has been given the chance to walk closer to the line of being a hero, and is allowed moments here where he gets to do the right thing, and creates a friendship with the two younger mutants was incredibly well received by myself. The scenes where he would be scolded by Eva for being a grouch, or took the time to make sure that Christopher was feeling okay after using his powers, or even just making jokes with the two of them were easily some of my favourites in the book.

I was also surprised that not only did I not end up hating Graydon Creed, a man who's always been portrayed as an out and out bigot, a person who would gladly march mutants into extermination camps, I actually kind of came to like him. I know that the character has gone through a lot over the more recent years with their constant cycle of death and resurrection, but to see him showing humanity, and basic decency was a big surprise for me, and made him one of the more interesting characters in the book.

The characters and their interactions are definitely the highlight of the book, and take focus over the action sequences which are fewer and further between than if this story was made in comic form. Yes, there are some big moments of the team having to fight against some cool opponents, but that's not really what the focus of the story is about. Instead, its about these two young heroes learning that being an X-Man isn't always just flashy costumes and big adventures, that sometimes they'll be tested in extreme circumstances, and can be left deeply effected by it.

Liberty And Justice For All isn't your standard X-Men adventure, it's one that focuses more on the human (or mutant) journey that happens to these characters, it spends quite moments with its characters and lets the reader get into their heads and see the effect this life would have on someone. It might not be what you'd be initially drawn to an X-Men book for, but it's what you'll come away loving and wanting more of.

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The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher - Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Pray they are hungry. Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring the peculiar bunker—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more you fear them, the stronger they become.'

I was introduced to the work of T. Kingfisher (the pen-name for chiefly children’s author Ursula Vernon) last year, with her horror book The Twisted Ones. That quickly became one of my favourite books of 2019, and I adored the way that she was able to draw from older horror themes (in that case the work of Arthur Machen), and create something so thoroughly chilling. When this book was announced I was excited to see what they’d do next; and I wasn’t disappointed at all.

The Hollow Places follows Kara, nicknamed Carrot, just after she divorces her husband. With work being slim and little savings she’s facing the prospect of having to move back home with her mother; something she dearly wants to avoid. Salvation comes when her uncle invites her to stay with him. Her uncle runs a small museum of oddities and ‘wonders’ that Kara grew up loving, and she jumps at the chance to spend some time with her beloved uncle, and the museum she grew up with. Everything is going great for her there, she’s staying in the back room, helping her uncle with tourists, and even getting around to cataloguing his stuffed animals and bizarre finds.

When her uncle has to take some time off to recover from knee surgery Kara is left to take care of the place alone, and is immediately met with problems when a hole gets knocked in the wall. Upset that a tourist broke the museum on her watch she asks her neighbour Simon to help with the repairs, but it’s then that they notice something strange about the hole. Instead of being just a normal hole there’s a hallway on the other side, one that shouldn’t be there, one that’s impossible. Crossing into the hole they discover that it leads to a strange bunker, one of just many in a place that shouldn’t exist. Delving deeper into this impossible world the two of them find horrors that will haunt them forever – if they live long enough to escape, that is.

If Kingfisher’s first book was inspired by the dark horror of Machen, this book feels like it would be at home in the catalogue of writers like H.P. Lovecraft, something that she confirms in the book’s afterword, also referencing Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows as an inspiration (you can read this for free online and definitely should). Like those stories The Hollow Places sets its stock in creeping atmosphere and cosmic horror that’s too alien to be able to perceive.

The world that Kara and Simon discover through the hole is one that itself is enough to unsettle and disturb; something so impossible and bizarre that its existence could cause nightmares, but it’s the hints of the things that inhabit this world that are the worst. I don’t want to talk too much about what’s on the other side of the hole, but what I will say is that the brief glimpses of things, the possible rationale and explanation that characters try to come up with, and the effects these creatures have, is so disturbing, so other, that I can’t help but think that experiencing these things would leave you traumatised forever.

The story does things that I can confidently say no one would expect, because some of the stuff here is so reality bending that there’s just no way you’re going to see everything coming. It will have you holding your breath in tense moments, wanting to put the book down because of how frightening it is, yet desperate to read more to find out what happens next. I read the book in just over a day because I found this story and its characters so utterly addictive and enthralling. Even though the scenes on the other side of the hole are some of the most disturbing I’ve read in a book, and left me feeling creeped out, I would have read so much more of it because of how much it entertained me.

This book might not be for everyone (probably because it’s going to be too scary for some) but if you enjoy horror this is an absolute must read. It left me glad that the experience was over, but so desperate for more. I wanted to know what was going on, I wanted answers because the not knowing was driving me crazy; but then that’s the mark of truly great cosmic horror.

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Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy #1 presents readers with two stories: one that’s a short one-off that fits neatly into the events of The Empire Strikes Back, and another set before the events of The Rise of Skywalker that is yet to be concluded.

The first story in this issue, ‘The Obstacle Course’, written by Michael Moreci, with art by Ilias Kyriazis, is set some time before the events of the final film in the Skywalker Saga, and focuses on the training of Rey. As we see in the early moments of the film, Rey is honing her Jedi skills using obstacle courses, training both her abilities with the Force, and her physical endurance for any upcoming battles with The First Order. To help her with this Poe and Finn have brought Rey to a deserted and barren planet, where they’ve set up a new course for her to run. Unfortunately, it turns out the planet is home to a band of criminals, who don’t like unexpected visitors dropping in on them.

This issue very much feels like the set-up stages of this story, and not a huge amount really happens here. As such, it’s hard to judge the story too well yet, though there are a few small things that just didn’t feel right reading this. The story opens with Poe and Finn talking about this planet like they’ve just discovered it, describing it as barren and dangerous before admitting it’s perfect for their needs – but they’ve already been there to set up Rey’s course. It felt like very unnecessary and janky dialogue to set things up for the audience that doesn’t make much sense within the story itself.

Despite the slightly stilted writing, there are a few things to enjoy. The colours on the planet look great, and there’s a great contrast between the blues of the actual planet itself and the oranges and red of the sky. These colours help the characters to stand out a bit, as their costumes are pretty drab and dull, so the book really benefits from the added bold colours. There’s also some great designs for the pirate characters that inhabit the planet, though I was slightly disappointed to learn that one of them was not actually Embo from The Clone Wars, despite looking just like him.

The back-up story is definitely where this issue shines, however, and works much better, possibly in part because it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger and is fully contained in this one comic. With writing and art both being supplied by Nick Brokenshire, ‘Invasion of Echo Base’ takes place during the battle on Hoth during the events of The Empire Strikes Back, and follows Darth Vader as he leads his troops into the rebel stronghold.

Not only is the art in this story top notch, going for a more realistic approach over the cartoonish feel of the first story, it also has some very cool character moments that adds more depth to Vader. Not only does he get to lead the charge into the base, using his force powers to break down doors and dispatch rebel soldiers, but we get to see that Luke is his goal the whole time. There’s even a moment where he enters the medical bay that Luke was using to recover from the Wampa attack, and Vader senses his injuries, providing a moment of connection between the two of them as it leads Vader to reflect on his own wounds.

One of the best parts of the story, however, is the use of one of the deleted scenes from the movie, where in their chase of C3PO, one of the Snowtroopers opens a door and is immediately attacked by a Wampa, being dragged away before the door closes and leaves his colleagues standing there in shock. It’s a moment of silliness in an otherwise serious story, and a great nod to the cut scene that fans will enjoy.

Overall the second story is definitely the best part of this issue, though I’m intrigued to find out what happens next to Rey, Poe, and Finn in the next part of their story in the following issue.

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Day Zero: A Watch Dogs Legion Novel by James Swallow & Josh Reynolds - Book Review

'A secretive resistance movement is the last line of defence in this heart-pounding prequel to 2020’s most-anticipated video game release, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs: Legion

'Bike messenger and wannabe troublemaker Olly Soames is the newest recruit to DedSec’s Resistance movement, but when a stranger is shot dead in front of him, he realises that danger is closer than he thinks…Sarah Lincoln is an aggressive young politician with questionable methods and big ambitions, and when a string of murders unfolds in her borough, it may be the opportunity she has been looking for to make a name for herself…

'Ex-MMA fighter turned leg-breaker Ro Hayes is in deep with the vicious Clan Kelley, the most brutal organised crime firm in the city’s underworld, and her survival rests on uncovering a dead man’s secrets…And for Danny, Ro’s estranged brother and former soldier, his new career with private military contractor Albion is leading him down a very dark path, toward choices he may never be able to take back…

'Four lives are drawn into a murderous conspiracy that threatens to destroy Dedsec and plunge the city of London into chaos. Something very bad is going down in London town…'

I've played the first two Watch Dogs games and really enjoyed them, though I did prefer the narrative of the first game more as the second one felt a bit less engaging. But, I enjoyed the open world of the games, running around hacking into tech, collecting things around a huge map, and generally messing things up for big, evil corporations. I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Watch Dogs: Legion to get some more of this great franchise, though admittedly awaiting a second hand copy because I don't really want to support Ubisoft, one of those real life evil corporations. 

Luckily, in the wait to play the new game I've had the chance to read the official prequel novel, Day Zero: A Watch Dogs Legion Novel. The book follows a handful of people across London as the private security firm Albion tries to get approval to take over for the police across the city. Opposing them are a number of politicians, as well as members of the underground hacker group Dedsec.

However, when a seemingly random man is shot dead at a political rally things in London begin to spiral out of control. A new courier for Dedsec, Olly, finds himself thrust into the centre of a conspiracy against Albion, and has to work alongside one of the organisations best to try and track down the killer. Meanwhile, one of the Albion troops, Danny, discovers that his sister Ro is working for one of the biggest criminal gangs in the city, something that puts them at odds with each other. The three of them end up being drawn together in a plot that's bigger than any of them could imagine, and one that sets the stage for sweeping changes in the nations capital.

A lot of the time with video game novel tie-in's you'll get a retelling of the events of the game, or possibly a sequel story that's quickly dismissed as not being canon when the next game in the series comes out. These books can be fun, but tend to have little impact to the universes they're set it. This book, however, feels a little different. I've not had the chance to play the game yet, but I've seen a lot of trailers and behind the scenes videos for it, and know that some of the characters that appear on the periphery of this story will be making appearances in the game, like Mary Kelley and Nigel Cass; it also benefits from being able to set up a lot of the background for the game, things which hopefully won't later be retconed away.

There are, however, a few characters in the book that I've not seen referenced in any of the promotion for the game, and these tend to be the characters that the readers get to follow. It could have been easy for the writers to pick a character like Sabine Brandt as the main protagonist, someone who would go on to play a big role in the game. The problem with doing something like that, however, would be that some readers would know that she's in the game, that she would have to survive the events of the book in order to appear later on in the timeline. By creating brand new characters for the novel Swallow and Reynolds are making it so that you're having to stay on your toes throughout, and are never sure if the heroes are going to make it out alive.

Sadly, the main characters are never really given a chance to really be focused on beyond what's strictly necessary for the story, and some like Olly come away feeling pretty underdeveloped as a result, especially when compared to Danny and Ro who do get quite a bit of their backstory given. However, the characters don't really come away feeling hugely important, instead it's the wold that is. Reynolds and Swallow are given the task of setting up the London that people will find in the game, to explain how things got to the point where armed militia are patrolling the streets. Yes, I'm sure that this will be gone into in the game, but getting to see it unfold in front of me in a book is so much better than having characters tell me about it in game, or having to piece it together by unlocking things in game.

I was hoping that the book was going to be a good read, having been familiar with the work that Swallow and Reynolds have done in other franchise, but was worried that this might be another throw away game tie-in, one that felt cheap,rushed, or inconsequential. Luckily, it was everything I was hoping it was going to be, and got me very excited to play the game. A brilliant introduction to the new game.

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The Haunted Shore by Neil Spring - Book Review

 

'A CHILLING GHOST STORY SET IN THE HAUNTING WILDERNESS OF SUFFOLK

'When Lizzy moves to a desolate shore to escape her past, she hopes to find sanctuary. But a mysterious stranger is waiting for her, her father's carer, and when darkness falls, something roams this wild stretch of beach, urging Lizzy to investigate its past. The longer she stays, the more the shore's secrets begin to stir. Secrets of a sea that burned, of bodies washed ashore -- and a family's buried past reaching into the present.

'And when Lizzy begins to suspect that her father's carer is a dangerous imposter with sinister motives, a new darkness rises. What happens next is everyone's living nightmare . . .'

The Haunted Shore follows Elizabeth Valentine, Lizzy, a successful woman in her mid thirties with a partner that loves her and a high paid PR job in London. She loves her life, and is ready to settle down into married life with her partner and have some kids. Unfortunately for her, her life is about to spiral out of control. Lizzy's partner is also her boss, and when he removes her from an important project she turns to the one place shes always found comfort, online gambling.

Without realising what she's doing Lizzy drains her bank accounts in a spree of online Blackjack. Panicked and desperate she uses her corporate credit card to try and win her money back; but alas, her addiction prevents her from stopping before it all goes wrong. With £80,000 stolen from her work and gone to the wind, Lizzy is fired from her job, loses her partner, and is being hounded by shady characters who all want their money back.

Unable to see what she can do to get herself out of this hole her addiction has dug her she climbs onto the edge of a bridge and is about to end her life when she gets a phone call from her brother. It turns out her father is getting sicker, that he's struggling to get by, and her brother needs her to help. Grabbing hold of this sudden lifeline with both hands Lizzy travels back to her childhood home to help her father.

A former architect, her father is hiding away from the world in his converted Martello tower on a stretch of the near deserted Shingle Street, a small patch of coast in Suffolk. Lizzy arrives at this remote home to find her father in worse condition than she though, her brother moved away to live with a younger woman, and a strange carer, Hazel, staying in the tower. Back in her fathers life and determined to help him, Lizzy not only has to worry about the debt collectors on her trail, and continually locking horns with Hazel, but there's also mysterious figures on the beach at night, and strange noises that she can't explain haunting her too.

The Haunted Shore is a book that's full of atmosphere, one where you feel the location seeping off the page into you as you read it. The remote and dreary shore of Lizzy's childhood home is dark, creepy, and full of atmosphere, and it never once lets up. The oppressive nature of the winter weather, as well as the cold and isolated feel of the tower means that this is a place where Lizzy can never find rest, where she never feels relaxed or fully safe. The result of this is a woman who is barely keeping a hold of herself throughout most of the book.

Lizzy is a character that feels very real in a lot of ways, for starters she's incredibly flawed, and makes so pretty awful mistake like anyone would. But the thing I like about her most, that I really appreciate from Neil Spring, is that her gambling addiction isn't treated as a failing on her part. Sure, there's a time at the start of the book where she's blaming herself for doing it, but she soon starts to address it like any kind of addiction, something that is a part of her, something that she has to fight against because it's not just someone making the conscious choice to go and gamble, but an insidiousness inside her that keeps trying to push her towards it. Society seems to understand that addiction is often something that someone can't help, when it comes to things like alcohol or smoking, but other addictions are treated as some kind of moral failing or weakness on the part of those who fall victim to it, and gambling is one of these. To see it treated with the respect and sympathy it deserves is wonderful, and helps to normalise the idea that it's a sickness, not an active decision for gambling addicts.

Whilst battling with this illness, Lizzy is subject to further mental strain in the form of Hazel, a woman who you just can't help but hate. There are times where she feels completely genuine, where you believe that she's a kind woman, there to do what she can to help a vulnerable older man. You come to believe that perhaps Lizzy is just overreacting, and her feelings of suspicion and hate have no grounding in reality. Other times you completely agree with Lizzy, you believe completely that Hazel is a nasty, awful person, one who's there to cause harm. The back and forth on the view of this character, on the way both the reader and Lizzy feel about her is great, and really speaks to how well written the book is. I won't say which of these is right, whether Hazel is good or bad, because finding that out yourself is half the fun.

Neil Spring also manages to weave the ghostly parts of the story into the narrative in great ways, and whilst you never feel that this supernatural element is completely gone thanks to the atmosphere, there are large sections of the book where it takes a back seat to the human drama going on. The two stories intertwine together very well, and both lead to some shocking revelations and surprise conclusions.

Overall I really enjoyed The Haunted Shore, it had a compelling narrative with some great twists and turns, and some really creepy, spooky moments in their too. 

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Underdog – London Korean Film Festival 2020

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Underdog (also known as A Dog’s Courage) is the only animated film at the London Korean Film Festival, and the only one seemingly aimed at children, and it certainly stood out as one to keep an eye on.

The basic plot follows Moongchi (Kyung-soo Doo), a family dog who has been abandoned by his owners. Having loved and trusted his owner for his whole life, Moongchi waits patiently for him to return and pick him up. Alone and unsure how to survive, he’s taken in by a group of other strays, who have been living on the streets for a while and know how to get by. Living in a slum on the edge of town, they get by via scavenging through trash, and the kindness of some of the locals. However, a dogcatcher stalks the streets, hunting down any stray he can get his hands on.

One day when he wanders up to the mountains Moongchi sees a group of wild dogs and decides that he wants to befriend them, particularly the young female Bami (So-dam Park). The wild dogs initially want nothing to do with Moongchi or his friends, but when the dog catcher learns of this group he sets his sights on them too, leading to the two packs to team up together to try and reach a new home safe from people.

On the surface the film reminded me of stories like Watership Down and The Animals of Farthing Wood, with a group of animals coming together in order to find a safe new home. However, unlike those other stories, the actual journey in Underdog doesn’t even start until close to halfway through the film, giving viewers a good long period to get to know the dogs before they end up in peril – and oh boy do they end up in peril!

Much like the aforementioned stories, Underdog has a level of danger to it that I think most children’s films seem to have lost over the years. It’s not as bloodthirsty as The Animals of Farthing Wood (which is like Game of Thrones for children) but dogs do die during this film, and whilst it’s sometimes dramatic and shows the stakes, there’s at least one time it happens that’s just plain sad and designed to hit you where it hurts. It doesn’t mean this isn’t a film suitable for kids, but it does mean that parents need to be aware just in case their little ones burst into tears.

Underdog has an interesting art style too, one that seems very different from most western animated features. Instead of being completely hand drawn or completely CGI, the film has these gorgeous backgrounds that have a great hand painted feel to them, whilst most of the characters seem to have been built as 3D elements in a computer but designed to look two dimensional too.

The result is a little janky at times, and there are a few moments where some of the dogs’ movements or expressions seem a little off and made me think about cel-shaded video games. There is one particular scene where the villainous dog catcher is talking to a character who seems to have been made completely two dimensional, and the difference really jumps out there; but on the whole the animation style is very smooth, and looks great, and I’d have happily spent time looking through the beautifully crafted environments.

Underdog was a surprisingly good film, one that is definitely aimed at children, but thanks to different sensibilities of the south Korean film makers, feels a bit more grown-up than what we’d be used to from a US production. The story has things in it that are darker, and has heavier themes that will appeal to the adults who watch this with their children. Definitely worth checking out.

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Cat Step by Alison Irvine - Book Review

'One mistake can unravel everything…

'She only left her daughter in the car for a minute; just a quick minute whilst she ran into the shop. She barely thought twice about making the decision, but it soon began to consume her every thought. And not just her thoughts, but those of every neighbour, police officer and social security worker in a fifteen mile radius. But this is her child. Surely she knows best?

'After she’d made the move to a small town in Scotland, the rolling hills and blustery beaches seemed to be the perfect backdrop for her and her four year-old daughter, Emily, to start again. It wasn’t always easy just the two of them, but Liz was sure that she could manage this time. And now this?

'Sometimes, one mistake is all it takes to unravel everything. Cat Step is a lyrically sparse novel about judgement, inter-generational relationships, community, class, and the expectations that we place on mothers. With sharp prose Alison Irvine has crafted a compassionate narrative that compels you to read on.'

Cat Step was not the book that I was expecting it to be; I guess I came to the novel with a preconceived notion of what was going to happen from the tease of the blurb. I was expecting something big and dramatic, for Liz's choice to leave her daughter in the car alone to cause something awful to happen. I thought this was the set-up to her child going missing, and the terror and heartbreak that would bring. But I was wrong. Instead, Cat Step is a much more grounded novel, one that looks at a very ordinary and recognisable life, one that many people will be able to find a connection with, something familiar to their own life.

The book follows Liz, who has left her life living with her mother in London to travel to Lennoxtown, a small town in Scotland. Taking her four year old daughter Emily with her, Liz has gone to clear out the flat of her late partners grandmother, who passed away recently. Clearing a home and getting it ready to be sold on is hard enough, but when you've got a four-year-old to look after too, it begins to get a bit much for the single mother. 

When Emily falls ill with tonsillitis Liz does her best to carry on, as well as taking care of her sick daughter. All she does is make one tiny mistake in judgement, and things begin to unravel for her. Taking Emily to go get some much needed groceries, she leaves the sleeping child alone in the car as she dashes in to get what she needs. Unfortunately, this is the day a thief chooses to break into her car to steal her phone. The break-in leads to the police being called, and when they discover that Emily was left alone in the car Liz is reported to social services.

Now Liz has to try to keep her life together as she remains isolated, hundreds of miles from her only family, with a child that doesn't always make her life easy, and social services watching her every move. In the middle of all of this, Liz is desperate to find people who might have known her late partner Robbie, to learn more about the man she lost; but not everything she learns about him is a good as she hopes.

Liz has an incredibly difficult journey in Cat Step, and it's a book that really hammers home the stress and difficulty of being a parent, especially a single parent. Liz spends most of the book isolated, with her daughter being her only companion for much of the time. Other than a handful of pensioners she spends time with to teach dance most everyone she meets in her time at Lennoxtown is someone that she comes to see as an adversary. They're judging her, they're questioning her parenting skills, and they want to take her daughter away from her.

It's no surprise that Liz's mental health takes a heavy hit over the course of the novel, and the threads have already begun to unravel at the very start of the book. This isn't just through being in a new, isolating place, but we learn over the course of the story that Liz has had to deal with some awful tragedy when she lost her partner, and that that loss still haunts her almost five years later. The book speaks as much about the effect that grief can have upon a person as much as it does the trials of being an isolated mother, and these two issues are ultimately what leads Liz down a dark path.

Cat Step shows readers that loss and grief are something that in some cases doesn't just pass, but becomes a huge part of someone's life, colouring every part of their existence. It can cause you to want to live in that happier past, to struggle to make new connection, and can prevent you from living your life to the fullest. This is why when Liz learns that Robbie had some skeletons in his closet, some pretty damn bad ones, it begins to break her world. The man she loved and lost was the brightest spark in her life, someone who devoted themselves to her, who supported her dreams and made a family with her; the idea that he wasn't perfect is too much for her, especially as he's not around for her to talk about it with him. She's left grappling two conflicting ideas of Robbie, ones that she feels can't exist in the same person.

I saw this idea of duality a lot in the book, with a number of characters seeming to make dramatic shifts in their personalities and attitudes towards Liz. This, of course, could have been very much skewed by the perspective of a woman who's mental health is slowly deteriorating, but it could also fit in with the idea that some people can hold vastly opposing facets. The loving husband could have a criminal past, a man who did awful things and beat his mother can feel shame and seek forgiveness whilst trying to be a good father, a strong independent woman can fall to pieces where their child is concerned, and a kindly new boyfriend could be a cheat. The book likes to remind the reader that people aren't defined by one simple characteristic, that they're complex, and often flawed. Liz sees this in others during her time at Lennoxtown, and even shows it in herself as a devoted mother who some could see as a neglectful or even cruel parent.

Cat Step was simpler in its story than I was expecting, but had a lot more depth too. It took a very ordinary person going through a very ordinary life and used that to show the difficulties and complexities of life. It reminded the reader that everything you do can be seen in different ways, that one persons hero is another's villain, and that perhaps we should all take the time to consider things more carefully before we make snap decisions about people.

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Ashfall – London Korean Film Festival 2020

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The line up for the London Korean Film Festival is an impressive one, with a broad range of genres designed to appeal to people who are fans of very different films. One that immediately jumped out from the list was Ashfall, a big, bombastic action adventure blockbuster that looked like a load of fun.

Ashfall (original title Baekdusan) follows bomb disposal technician Jo In-Chang (Jung-woo Ha), who’s planning to retire from his dangerous job to spend more time with his wife and their baby, who’s close to being born. However, when Mount Paektu, an active volcano on the North Korea/China border suddenly erupts, his plans are cancelled.

The eruption causes extensive damage across the Korean Peninsula, destroying cities in North and South Korea. When it’s discovered that this is only the first of four eruptions, and that the final one is going to be large enough to cause massive devastation and loss of life, the Korean government must come up with a plan to prevent this.

Jo In-Chang and his team get dispatched to travel into North Korea, contact double agent Ri Joon-pyeong (Byung-hun Lee) who’s in one of their detention centres, and discover the location of North Korean nuclear weapons. They will then have to steal one of these weapons in order to detonate it beneath the mountain, providing enough pressure relief to prevent the final eruption.

This plan sees Jo and his team travelling into hostile territory, that puts them against both the North Korean forces, and those of the USA who have travelled to Korea to take part in nuclear disarmament procedures. But when things go wrong, Jo and his technicians, who are not trained for combat, must complete the mission, alongside a double agent intent on escaping and screwing over the team if it means his freedom.

Ashfall opens big, with the first eruption of Mount Paektu within the first ten minutes causing massive damage across Seoul. Buildings come crashing down, cars crash, and Jo is left dashing through the destruction as carnage and ash rain around him.

From here the film hardly lets up, and uses the constant threat of follow-up destruction to keep the cast of characters moving forward at all times, fighting towards their end goal. However, it doesn’t just rely on the threat of geological disaster, but throws a lot of action, espionage, buddy comedy, and even some surprisingly emotional moments into the mix too, meaning that the audience never has a chance to get bored with events.

The film really picks up when Jo and his team encounter Ri, who doesn’t seem to care about anything but his own personal goals throughout. He’s constantly at odds with Jo and his team, and this means that you’re never sure which side he’s going to be on at any moment. The interplay between Jo and Ri is great, and keeps the audience guessing right up to the end; an end that manages to hit a perfect note.

These constant shifts in tone, jumping from action and espionage to silly moments where the two leads are battling against each other and trying to get the upper hand, mean that Ashfall never feels dull or takes itself too seriously. This helps to balance out against some of the stark and realistic depictions of destruction, and the massive stakes that Jo has on his shoulders.

Ashfall is the kind of film audiences often get from big budget American studios, where it would be the US Army riding in to do the impossible and save the day, so it’s refreshing to see that formula subverted a little, where not only is it another country that gets to play at big budget heroics but the US military is an active antagonist.

Overall Ashfall is a really enjoyable film. It has some great pacing, big action and disaster sequences that work really well, and a central cast who are a genuine delight to watch. Definitely a film that I would recommend.

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