Firefly: The 'Verse According to Mal

I was first introduced to Firefly in 2011 while researching for a paper on the comparative merits of science fiction and fantasy. In hindsight, I believe that this particular subject was too subjective to warrant serious debate in an academic paper, amount to little more than an opinion piece followed by a comparison of box office numbers and accolades. However, researching for this paper allowed my dear friend Nathan (a different Nathan; not the one who believes that the 1978 Superman film is the greatest superhero film ever made, and yes Nate, I will never stop bugging you about that, old pal) to help me start watching Firefly. I remember liking the show then, and I recently re-watched the whole series on a whim, and I was blown away by how good it actually was to my older eyes. A combination of witty dialogue, fun action, engaging stories, excellent acting and production design, and a ingeniously creative plot made for what could potentially have been the greatest sci-fi TV show ever made.

For those who don't know, Firefly was a short-lived television series created by Joss Whedon, the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and The Avengers. Firefly fell into the sort of unique genre-splicing category that Whedon is known for, being best described as space western. You have a nine guys and gals flying through space in a ship called Serenity in the years following a galactic civil war. Serenity is captained by Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a veteran of the losing side of the war, the Independents. The winner of that war, the Alliance, is depicted as a callous, draconian regime which Mal states is intent on everyone being "interfered with or ignored equally." After re-watching these 14 episodes in preparation for finally watching the big-screen sequel Serentiy, I came to conclude that Malcolm Reynolds is probably best described as a libertarian.

Don't ask me what Whedon's personal political views are, but I believe that this series is probably the most balanced and compelling portrayal of a political viewpoint which I remotely agree with. Mal cherishes what freedom and livelihood is left for him and his compatriots as smugglers, prowling the edges of "civilized" space looking for work, legal or illegal. He and his crew know that their business is a dangerous one, but Mal firmly wants to avoid being caught up in the society of the government he loathes, be it "make-work" jobs provided by the Alliance or even a semblance of legitimacy under the same oppressive system. In other words, he's a disaffected man of principle who doesn't like to admit that he still has principles.

And he truly is disaffected; before the end of the war, Mal was a religious man who fought for his comrades and his cause, ready to charge into battle at a moment's notice. When we see him in the series in the present day, he has no love for God, having an awkward, sometimes tense relationship with Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a preacher who finds himself traveling aboard Serenity. On the surface, Mal hasn't changed much since before and after the war, still being generally affable and honest, aside from the occasional illegal activity that he and his crew engage in. But underneath, he's plainly much more cynical and dour than he was before, and remains that way throughout the series. I haven't seen Serenity (the movie) yet, but I understand that this might change a little. And there's still all the Serenity comics that I have to read...

The main point, however, is that in a fictional world plainly meant to resemble post-Civil War America, Mal is a clear analogue to the Confederate soldier who honestly believed that he was fighting for a just cause when he signed up for the Confederate army, and then wondering why their just cause hadn't won the day. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end. The Union is not the Alliance, and the Alliance is not the Union. There's no Lincoln here, no Robert E. Lee, no Grant, no Jefferson Davis. As much of a parallel it's meant to be, the context simply doesn't allow for any great analogy between the two situation than on a primarily superficial level.

Insofar as I know, there hasn't been much detail given about the exact nature of the Independents' idea of good government, if any, so it's obviously difficult to give a fair evaluation between the broad swathes of a despotic federated entity and a libertarian resistance movement. If what I've heard about the Alliance from other sources is anything to go by, however, I think that it's more than fair to say that they're obviously really bad guys. Until I watch Serenity and read the comics, I confess that I might not be able to produce as well-rounded an analysis on this subject as I could, but I believe that at the moment, I'm pretty sure this will do. Besides, when I finally do watch Serenity, I'll have someone else to write about: Shepherd Book.

Fun Fact: Alen Tudyk, who played Wash in Firefly, also voiced Mickey in Halo 3: ODST and Krei is Big Hero 6. Tudyk wasn't the only Firefly actor to voice a character in ODST. Nathan Fillion voiced Buck, and Adam Baldwin, who played Jayne in Firefly, voiced Dutch.

Image courtesy of moviepilot.com

Review: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

For May the Fourth Be With You, also known as Star Wars Day, I sat down with the family and watched the greatest of the Star Wars films. Episode V has been acclaimed by many as the greatest and the best of the entire Star Wars film saga, and there are many reasons for this, aside from it being a darn good film. But I think that there is one, central factor which propelled this film to the top: George Lucas, for the most part, kept his dadblamed hands off it.

Empire takes place some three years after the evens of A New Hope, where Luke Skywalker and his friends are helping out with the Rebel Alliance. Luke's a commander, Leia's doing here ting, Han's trying to call it quits to pay back his debts, and Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO are hanging around. But after a devastating Imperial attack leaves the Rebel Alliance scattered, and Luke receives a vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi telling him to go to Dagobah to find some guy named Yoda, our heroes are split. Han, Leia, Chewie, R2 and 3PO are on the Millennium Falcon trying to get away from Darth Vader and the Imperials, and Luke is learning the ways of the Force. Will our heroes get to safety? Will Vader be vanquished? Will Luke quite snogging his sister already?! Seriously, George Lucas has a really messed up idea of romance. (To be fair, neither of them had any idea at the time that they were related, but it's still gross in any context.)

Dispensing with the ranting and raving, this is undoubtedly the best of the Star Wars films. Why? Because it was the one film that George Lucas kept his mitts off of the most. I don't know how he managed to do what he did with A New Hope, but all the other films that he had at least a degree of direct involvement in were sub-par at best and complete poo at worst. Case in point, the prequels, and to an extent, Return of the Jedi. He works best when he's in a strictly writing capacity, or even better, in an advisory role. Empire was directed by Irvin Kershner, produced by Gary Kurtz, and co-written by George Lucas and two other people. But for all this faults, Lucas is the man responsible for the whole Star Wars thing, so kudos to him for that.

But this all fails to answer the question of why specifically Empire is a great film. First of all, it knows when to be fun and funny, and when to be serious and dramatic. I remember watching Empire of Dreams on New Year's Day, and Kershner said in that documentary that the movie had to have humor, but not gags. That's exactly what I saw here. In addition, the film has some great suspense, keeping you on the edge of your seat at just the right moments. It moves along at a fast pace, giving the viewer a thrill a minute right up until Vader says that thing he says that everyone knows. If you don't, you need to see this movie before people begin laughing at you and spoil it for you anyway.

Re-watching this movie made me realize that Star Wars is most accurately described as a science fantasy war epic. I know that the prequels did a lot of "Doing in the Wizard" and leaned heavily into soft science fiction, but the genre is really evident here. We've got the space ships and laser guns from science fiction, the magic, swords, and pop-philosophy mumbo-jumbo from fantasy, the war from the... war, and the epic from the journeys and trials that the characters go through.

One of the principal achievements of this film, however, which it shares with the other films in the original trilogy, are the effects. They were cutting edge for their time, and still look great today in a world awash with CGI. You've got the Battle of Hoth and the asteroid chase scene, but the real draw in terms of special effects is Yoda. Voiced by Frank Oz, this very emotive puppet was what would make or break the film, as noted by the filmmakers in Empire of Dreams. Happily enough, the Yoda puppet actually expresses more emotion than Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker's actor, at times, and Oz totally sells it.

Speaking of Mark Hamill, he's probably the source of the film's only real flaw. I'll be the first person to defend him as a great voice actor. He did play the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and in the Arkham games, not to mention flipping Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but here, he's a pretty hit or miss actor. I've heard that it's probably because he was less experienced back then, and I buy that, but I still think that even Hamill got across some great emotion, which the movie has in abundance, in his final scene with Darth Vader. In fact, every actor from James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader, to newcomers Billy Dee Williams and Kenneth Colley as Lando Calrissian and Admiral Piett, respectively, did a great job in their roles.

Suffice it to say, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back delivers the second (or fifth, depending on how you look at it) act in an epic story which serves as the climax of the original trilogy, giving us a cast of fully developed characters, amazing effects, incredible acting, and dynamic action and adventure. I cannot say enough about how it is very easily the greatest and the best of all of the Star Wars films. It is also, I think, one of the greatest films ever to grace the silver screen.

RATING: 9.5/10

Fun fact: Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is not the first person to shout "It's a trap!" Princess Leia actually says it when she first sees Luke at Cloud City, yelling to him, "It's a trap!"

Image courtesy of confessionsofamoviesnob.com

Review: The Law of Superheroes

As many of you loyal readers probably know, I love superheroes. I guess you could say that I eat, sleep, and breathe superheroes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good fantasy story, science fiction, crime, historical fiction, drama, adventure, and noir (no horror, please), but I just can't shake the fact that I'm an absolute sucker for a good superhero story. I must have watched The Incredibles a dozen times when I was a kid. And remember, I'm the same guy who built crime maps of the Gotham City organized crime factions. But to get to the point, I also love it when one of my preoccupations is combined with something with roots in the real world. Case in point, The Law of Superheroes.


Based on their popular law blog Law and the Multiverse, which I avidly follow, lawyers James Daily and Ryan Davidson examine a host of legal issues derived from comic books. Could Batman patent the Batmobile? What is the tax status of organizations such as the Avengers? What civil rights might mutants have? And is the Joker really insane? All of these questions and more are answered in this tome.

Like I said, the reason that books like this appeal to me is that it combines something awesome (superheroes) with something otherwise normal (law) to produce a subject, or rather, a take on a subject, which is unique and interesting in its own fashion (the law of superheroes). The authors actually go into detail about these laws, citing comic book stories with the same precision as court cases. They give their expert opinion about even the most arcane legal issues and comic book lore with just the right balance of seriousness and levity that such a study would require.

Now, some of you might think that such a book would be quite dull, or else so painstakingly technical as to drown out all the interesting bits. I am happy to report that this is not at all the case. Daily and Davidson are as much comic book fans as they are lawyers, and it can easily be told that they are the same people who write their blog. As I said, the writing style achieves perfect equilibrium between seriousness and levity, with the authors maintaining a healthy sense of humor about the material being examined, while at the same time conducting the examination in a sober (though occasionally jocular) manner.

What I particularly appreciated about this book is that it didn't limit itself to a comprehensive review of criminal law. Oh, far from it. It also deals with constitutional law, administrative law, patent law, and a host of other types of law. I seem to recall it being mentioned in the book somewhere that Daily and Davidson wanted to create a basic primer for law students that was meant to give a general overview of U.S. law, but in a fun and interesting way. In that regard, I say to those two brave barristers, "Mission accomplished."

The Law of Superheroes is a must have for all hardcore superhero and comic book fans. Not only will it enlighten you about legal issues in comic books, but it will acquaint you with the basic underpinnings of the American legal system. For me, it has the added benefits of providing a knowledge base for legal issues that might crop up in my own writings. I therefore recommend it not just to superhero fans, but to all seekers of knowledge and information. This book will prove to be both fun and fascinating.

RATING: 9/10

Image courtesy of lawandthemultiverse.com

The Batman Complex

The Batman Complex is a fan-edit comprised of footage from The Dark Knight Saga, Inception, The Machinist, Shutter Island, and others films, usually starring Christian Bale or directed by Christopher Nolan, to form a fake trailer for what seems to be a completely different film. It's truly a work of genius, combining the plots of the various films in a way that is both original (for a fan-edit) and compelling.

The Batman Complex, created by YouTube user themanbatman, tells the story of a mentally ill Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) who believes that he is actually Batman. His therapist introduces Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team to perform an inception to apparently remove the ailment from his mind. But they'll have to deal with a militarized subconscious in the form of the Joker, Ra's al Ghul, and Two-Face, plus the Batman personality itself. Meanwhile, Cobb himself is slowly descending into madness as he and his team go deeper into Bruce Wayne's troubled psyche.

I'm blown away by this trailer every time I see it. It's typical of the work of themanbatman, who has made extensive trailer campaigns for a Marvel/DC crossover film series (titled Who's Side Are You On?), plus a very effective trailer for The Dark Knight using the track "Mind Heist." Warning, there is some swearing in the trailer, and it advertises a movie which is admittedly very freaky. There are also two other trailers for The Batman Complex, available on themanbatman's YouTube account, and I gladly point you to his work. The only other thing I can say about it is that I so very wish it were real. I'd pay money to see it! At the very least, in only makes me want to see Inception all the more.

Review: Back to the Future

What if you could travel backwards in time?

Where would you go?

And, most importantly, why?

Regardless of the physics behind time travel, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) winds up going back in time aboard a time machine built by his mentor, the quintessential nutty professor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd, no relation to Jake Lloyd). This time machine, built out of a retooled DeLorean (As the good doctor says, "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"), takes Marty on a journey thirty years into the past, to the 1950s, at a time when his parents were teenagers, in a a very different yet very much the same era. Marty is going to have to figure out a way to get home, keep things from getting out of hand with temporal paradoxes and what not (it's all a bit complicated), and get back to the future!

Okay, the breathless summary aside, I genuinely loved this movie, having a big smile plastered on my face by the end, and often throughout. It was, at its core, fun and funny. It's seldom enough, however, for a film to be either of those things. It has to be fun and funny in a clever way. And Back to the Future is very clever. From the subtly paced opening scene to the here-we-go-again conclusion, I had fun the whole way through. Without spoiling the plot, I can tell you that the entire movie is laced with irony, brick jokes, and historical in-jokes. Where a shopping mall stands in 1985 is merely a cornfield in 1955. People poke fun at Marty for wearing a life jacket, and the same show that Marty's dad was watching on TV in 1985 is airing for the first time in 1955. It all adds up to one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

Back to the Future is very fast paced, but not so much as to be frenetic. Its gags and execution are perfectly timed, with every last thread coming together at the end. All of the characters have an exaggerated quality to them, a subtle sense of melodrama being present in this film. However, it's not too strong a dose of that potent factor, with most of the focus being on humor and fun. The characters, while exaggerated, are all very relatable. Marty's incredulity at his circumstances reflects that of the audience, making him an unlikely candidate for the role of the only sane man. It also casts him in the role of Doc Brown's straight man. It's especially beneficial that there's a great dynamic between the characters.

Speaking of characters, this film may not seem like it could be called a character piece, but it nails exactly that. The core message of the film is that our parents were teenagers too, and they had much the same problems then that we younger generation have today. It's a concept which was relevant in 1985 and remains relevant now. The film is actually quite thought provoking, deep down. However, this film is not all roses and no thorns. There's a significant amount of swearing and a quick dose of sexual content. Talking to you parents out there, I'd only watch this with the older kids. On a less serious note, for you fans of hard science-fiction, you'll find it pretty soft, but it's nonetheless hugely entertaining. On the whole, Back to the Future is a great movie with a great cast, a great script, and a great story. Easily one of the best films I've ever seen.

RATING: 9.5/10

Image courtesy of impawards.com

Guardians of the Galaxy

A few days ago, the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy was released on the internet. I have absolutely no background with this relatively obscure Marvel property, but let me tell you, this trailer looks all right. We've got was looks like an all star cast which includes Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, plus James Gunn, the director of Thor: The Dark World, in the director's chair. I see that his trailer goes for the cosmic adventure story feel, something of a sci-fi adventure dramedy. The trailer looks funny, sort of cool, and I kind of want to see it. If it's as close to resembling Firefly and Star Wars as I think it does, then I definitely want to see it. Until then, the trailer!

Addendum: After further consideration, I am now having second thoughts about my initial enthusiasm for this film. Chris Pratt's Star-Lord could easily be turned into a clone of Seth Rogen's Green Hornet. This is not a good thing. Frequent readers of the blog may know my reasons for starting this blog was partially in response to the 201l The Green Hornet movie. It was, to use the words of Roger Ebert, "A horrible experience of unbearable length." (I believe he was referring to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in that case.) I just hope that a film with the Marvel pedigree doesn't descend into such awful depths. 

Artemis Fowl: From "Die Hard with Fairies" to Landmark Series

Just as Gotham Central is described by many as "Law and Order, but with Batman," Artemis Fowl isdescribed by its author, Eoin Colfer, as "Die Hard with fairies." It is a landmark in children's literature, up there with Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Redwall, and Warriors. This science fiction urban fantasy adventure series chronicles the exploits of Artemis Fowl II, a teenage criminal mastermind (though technically, he's only a preteen in the first book, at the ripe old age of 12) and his friends, enemies, and enemies who become his friends. The series kicks off with him and his bodyguard Butler kidnapping L.E.P. Recon Captain Holly Short, and holding her for a ransom in gold from her fairy brethren. The battle quickly escalates, with weapons, magic, and monsters being thrown into the mix. Add in Mulch Diggums, Foaly, Commander Root, Juliet Butler, Opal Koboi, Trouble Kelp, and a bunch of other memorable characters, and you've got a superb cast in a... mostly superb series.


Why do I say "mostly"? We'll get to that in a minute, but first, let me give the series credit where credit is due and sing its praises. Throughout the course of this series, Artemis, Holly, Mulch, and all the rest actually grow as characters, exhibiting some of the rawest, most heartfelt emotion I've ever read. (I have yet to read the climactic conclusion to the series, that is, the eighth and final book, The Last Guardian, though I do own it. I just haven't been able to read it (Don't worry, I'll get to it!) so as to fully understand Artemis's complete arc, but I digress). Artemis doesn't just stay an arrogant, heartless thief. No, he becomes empathetic, noble, self-sacrificial, and even heroic. Likewise, Holly starts out as a brash hot-shot, but matures into a tough but valiant young woman. Mulch goes from a greedy thief to a selfless and loyal friend. I could go on, but a detailed analysis of the character developments of the other characters would be too long of an article. That said, I really like where Butler, Foaly, and Commander Root went in this series.

The best thing about this series, however, is not that it's particularly clever, though it does grow into a clever series, but that it gets kids to think. Kudos from a certain troper over at tvtropes.org for point this out, but in hindsight, I realize that my love of complex, smart stories with equally complex and smart characters is rooted back in Artemis Fowl. Everything bit of research that Colfer did (even if he did flub up when he was discussing mob slang in The Eternity Code) adds to the fun, cool mood he strives to set. Everything I like about literary devices such as criminal organizations, guns, crime, heists, plans, and what-not goes back to here. My stories are directly inspired by certain aspects of these books, that is, a blending of the normal and the fantastic into something incredible. This drops off in later books, but we'll get to the series's decline later.

And remember what I said about there being here some of the rawest emotion I've ever read? I did not lie. From the opening scene in the first book in Saigon to the last scene I read with Mulch and Butler in Atlantis in The Atlantis Complex, the series is dripping with emotion and life that transcends the pages and letters. The emotional peak of the series, I believe, is The Opal Deception (easily my favorite book in the series, though I haven't read The Last Guardian yet), where everything has gone to Hades, the bad gal is winning, Holly and Artemis are about to be killed and eaten by trolls, and then... Oh, but that would be spoiling it now, wouldn't it? You can just feel what the characters feel. The greed. The hope. The desperation. The grimness. The sacrifice. The hardship. The camaraderie. The adventure. The coolness. The love. It's all on display, and it's wonderful to read. My favorite character is Butler, though Artemis is a close second, and Holly a close third. Butler is just so badbutt, so cool and collected, the voice of reason in a chaotic, frenetic world. He's just a really awesome character.

There are eight books in this series: Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code, The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony, The Time Paradox, The Atlantis Complex, and The Last Guardian. As you can see, the naming follows the tired and true (that's not a misprint: tired as in sleepy) tradition of titling a work with a adjective describing a noun. But anyway, there are also a few other books related to the series: The Secret Files of Artemis Fowl and a series of graphic novels based on the books. The former is a fine addition to the series, released in between The Eternity Code and The Opal Deception. It contains some nice extras to the series and two stand-alone stories in the series. The graphic novel series, on the other hand... Let's just say that I have mixed feelings about them. Granted, the graphic novel version of Artemis Fowl was what got me into the series, having read it before reading the actual book, and The Arctic Incident: The Graphic Novel was decent, but this third one is something which I'll be covering in a review post, where I will describe in detail my feelings about the graphic novels. It's one of the things that contributed to the series being only mostly superb. Speaking of which...

As sad as it is to say, the Artemis Fowl series has been in a steady decline ever since The Opal Deception, the aforementioned high point of the series. I don't really know why. Maybe Eoin Colfer got Frank Miller Syndrome, except if that happened, whatever he wrote would be complete garbage. Most of the stuff Colfer has written since The Opal Deception is serviceable. (Case in point, The Lost Colony.) In addition to spotty characterizations, ignorance of previously established continuity, and shoddy world building, Colfer seems to have descended into less-than-clever, less-than-thought-provoking stories. One denizen of the internet said that The Time Paradox read like a well written fan fiction (this is mainly because of a certain plot point which will be immediately apparent to those who read it). Meanwhile, I believe that The Atlantis Complex was a great disappointment, failing to properly capitalize on the ramifications of the previous book (the same aforementioned plot point). The Atlantis Complex's main error, however, is that Colfer was commissioned to write And Another Thing, an addition to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Why is this relevant to The Atlantis Complex? Because Colfer's whole writing style has changed, making a joke every other line, telling the story with an uncharacteristic joviality. Granted, his narration was snarky before, but now it's just clownish. Orion was mildly entertaining in that book (though I'm told that some found him utterly hilarious), and I did like him, but combined with the clownish writing, it's just too much.

And that's all without all the questions that are spawned while reading Colfer! Why did No.1 turn from winy snarker to naive child? What on Earth happened to Minerva? Have Holly and Artemis had that "long talk" that they mentioned in The Atlantis Complex? In The Time Paradox, why is a story which is taking eight years in the past, presumably before 2001, using modern technology? Why do Artemis and Trouble Kelp have a "historic dislike for each other"? Have they ever even had a conversation up to that point? And why does Colfer keep harping on about global warming? Doesn't he know it's supposed to be climate change now? (On a note of irony, I realized just now that Artemis meets with various fairy leaders at the beginning of The Atlantis Complex to discuss global warming while in Iceland.)

But despite its flaws, Artemis Fowl is a franchise that you do not want to miss. You parents out there, your kids will love it. Heck, even you might love it. It really shows, especially in the earlier books, that Eoin Colfer's writing style has immensely improved. It went from being like RoboCop to being all of its own thing.  Meanwhile, there is actually a movie based on this series currently emerging from development Hades, the books are all available as audiobooks for you auditory people, and there's the graphic novels for you comic book-only people. Mind you though, the graphic novels are of no compare to the original books, trust me. The books themselves I recommend to readers twelve and up.

Image courtesy of goodreads.com

Review: Across the Universe

I've never read much science fiction literature. Star Wars doesn't count because it's actually a form of fantasy, and I've only watched a bit of the Star Trek franchise. I tried reading a book called Greenthieves that my cousin gave me, but younger me quickly got bored with it. I could write all day about why pure science fiction literature, heck, pure science fiction in general, has been in a perpetual rut, but I think that it all boils down to it's tendency to heavily rely on spectacle. We've been trained to expect this sort of thing from works branded as sci-fi, and when a book or movie comes along which lacks those things, we quickly move on to the next thing. (Nate (the one who thinks Richard Donner's Superman is the best superhero film ever made), if you're reading this, feel free to chime in in the comments, because you've seen way more pure science fiction films than I have, and I think that you could contribute to this dialogue.) Anyway, there's also the whole thing about Moh's Scale of Science Fiction Hardness, but we won't get into that. Right now, I want to say that Across the Universe, a dystopian sci-fi thriller written by Beth Revis and published in 2011, is easily the pest science fiction book I've ever read. That said, it's probably the only science fiction book I've ever read.

Taking on a rotating first person narration, we've got seventeen year-old Amy who voluntarily goes into suspended animation, along with her parents, aboard a generation ship known as the Godspeed (for those of you who don't know, a generation ship is a space ship which is meant to to take several generations of people to man and populate it as it traverses space over a couple hundred years in order to get to its destination), and is later woken up in less than ideal circumstances, in what is quickly discerned as a murder attempt. On the other side of the coin is sixteen year-old Elder, a wiseguy who lives in the society of the ship several hundred years later among the population of the Godspeed, being trained by the leader, Eldest, to eventually take over for him. Unfortunately, nearly everyone except for Elder and his friend Harley hates Amy's guts, egged on by Eldest, because her appearance does not reflect the mono-ethnicity of the Godspeed's population. Elder and Amy have to avoid Eldest's wrathful rule, catch the would-be killer, and figure why the Godspeed is so messed up.

This book has a clumsy beginning, and finishes only partly strong. The first chapter with Elder is rushed and forced, but from there it begins to grow. There are way too many chapters in the beginning with Amy in suspended animation, and it just goes on and on. But once Amy gets out and our two protagonists begin actually interacting with each other, then we get to the good stuff. Apart from being a dystopian sci-fi thriller, this book also incorporates a love story into its plot, and I'll say that Revis pulls off the chemistry between Amy and Elder very well. Amy herself isn't the greatest character, being hard to connect with, but she's serviceable. Elder isn't quite as impressive either, but he's definitely more interesting than Amy. This is because he has a compelling role in the story (the heir to the throne, as it were), and it's played in a compelling way. Amy's role in the story has plenty of potential, but it's not executed in the most hard hitting way. This is partly due to the spotty build up and pacing, but also because of her shallow characterization. We get that she's insecure and misses her dirtbag boyfriend and is really freaked out by the new world she wakes up in, but the book doesn't really get across who she is. She likes photography and running, and that's about it.

Now that I look back on it, I realize that the most interesting characters were in the supporting cast. Characters like Eldest, Doc, Harley, Orion, and this one old lady whose name I don't remember. Eldest is a great villain. Doc is a cool, not-quite-evil-but-not-quite-good reasonable authority figure. Harley is tragic and introspective, but also has the capacity for heroism. Orion is one of the few characters who seems genuinely nice and likeable, but there's a twist that gives him a whole different dimension. Unfortunately, this last clause brings me to one of the book's main problems, which we'll discuss later. Concerning character dynamics, the best one was absolutely the dynamic between Elder and Eldest. The tension between them is great, and they have some really raw emotion in between them. 

The greatest thing about the book, I think, is some of the reveals it pulls near the end. Note that I said some of the reveals. There were a bunch of them, which is not always good, and can actually be really bad, a la Once Upon a Time. I believe that there were three really big ones, the first of which was a build up to the second one, the second one making me want to but the book down for a few minutes and absorb what I had just learned, and the third making me raise my eyebrows and go, "Huh." But the "big" twist was one I saw coming from a mile away, concerning the identity of the killer. I guessed as soon as the character was introduced that it was going to be that person, and I was right. I'm not sure if that makes me clever or the book dumb, or even both, but I'm must saying, I totally called it.

The last twist that I mentioned, the one that I barely reacted to, felt shoehorned in and extraneous. It mainly made me think, "Okay, we get that the Godspeed is messed up, let's move on. Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, throw it on the pile." I also felt that the "mystery" that they were trying to solve (how all of the victims were connected) had a solution which was a bit too obvious. It was staring me right in the face, and then it was revealed, and I was like, "Well, duh." What it should have done was make me go, "Of course! How could I have not seen it?" And remember what I said about the build up and pacing being off? It's not as glaring a problem in the middle portion of the book, when we're dealing with Amy mucking about the ship, but it really shows in the beginning when it just keeps going on and on about how Amy's stuck in the cryonics pod and whatnot. The end is also less than clean, forcing yet another reveal on us that doesn't have quite the impact it should have. In short, there are too many twists with too little build up.

But you know what? There's one thing about this book that sets it apart from other, slightly related books (Looking at you, Thrawn Trilogy): It's actually compelling and competently written. There are no overly convoluted subplots, no unnecessary characters, no unbelievable motivations. It made me want to find out what happened next, and to actually read the next book. It's theme of deception was a bit overdone, and I daresay I rolled my eyes when I read the preview chapter of the next book and saw that this theme would apparently be continuing, but it's actually a pretty decent work of literature, and not bad for a writer's first book. It may not be exactly outstanding, but it's still one of the better ones out there. And with my standards, that's sufficient enough for me.

(A word of warning though: This book, being of the young adult-teen category, contains some not-quite-explicit sexual content, including a sexual assault, and, on a lesser note, heavy use of futuristic profanity. I'd recommend this only to ages fifteen and up.)

RATING: 7.5/10

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Review: Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

I've written about Halo before, and I wrote there that I wasn't sure if I'd review Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn or not, but now I feel that the world deserves to know about this study in contradictions. Is it cleverly and professionally produced online series, or low budget sci-fi flick? Is it a definitive story of the origin of the Human-Covenant War, or a spanner in the works of an otherwise airtight continuity? Let's find out.

Originally released online in serialized form, but now combined into a ninety minute movie, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn tells the story of the cadets at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. The principal character is Cadet Thomas Lasky (Tom Green), who doesn't really want to fight. His friend Chyler Silva (Anna Popplewell), on the other hand, is apparently very much for fighting the "innies," that is, insurrectionists. The other cadets have their own stories, but most of the focus is on Tom and Chyler, with a little time spent on the others. But just as Tom is beginning to step up as a leader, who should show up at CAMS but the Covenant. They proceed to blow up the school, until only Tom and a small group of other Cadets are still alive against a force of Covenant troops. But they're not alone. Master Chief shows up! Yeah! Will Chief and Tom and company get out safely, or will everybody get killed to death? If you've played the Halo games, you probably know that it's a combination of both.

I call this series/movie a study in contradictions because I got a very different reaction watching it in serialized form online than I got from watching it as a movie. In serialized form, there was suspense and cliff hangers every week, and our investment in the characters was built up as time went on. I'm no film major, but I know that serialized shows and full length films are built very differently, and the movie version suffers for it. Granted, the movie version has extra scenes of the cadets introducing themselves at the beginning which gives them a little more depth, but that's about it. Also, all of the mini-cutscenes with Cortana and Master Chief were shunted to the front of the film or to the back. Of course, this film was made in order to promote Halo 4, so that may be a sign of it's quality.

To get to the point, Forward Unto Dawn simply doesn't work as a film, both for the reasons previously stated and for other structural flaws in the story and characters. But there are some good things about it. The acting is really strong, particularly on Tom Green's part, and the action scenes are really cool. The characters are also all likeable, even if not all of them get a lot of character development. We at least get some motivation for most of them, and we've got some good supporting characters in the form of Colonel Mehaffey (Ayelet Zurer, who played Jor-El's wife Lara in Man of Steel) General Black (Michael Dopud), and, of course, Master Chief (Daniel Cudmore). In hindsight, I'm kind of confused on why they had a different actor provide Master Chief's voice. I was thinking they could have gone with the Darth Vader approach and put some big guy in the suit while having Steve Downes, his voice actor from the games, do the voice. That said, Cudmore is still pretty good as Master Chief. I'd also like to offer high praise to the emotional depth that this series manages to pull off. Despite its flaws, that's the one thing it has in common with the games.

But remember those structural flaws in the story and characters that I mentioned? Yeah, we're going to have to talk about that now. Let's start with Chyler Silva. Despite being played by great actress Anna Popplewell, who I loved as Susan Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia movies, she's kind of a flat character. We're told through expository dialogue what her motivation is, as opposed to, say, an emotional reveal. I think the creators were trying to play up the contrast between the Lasky's wild card nature to her straight laced demeanor, but it only partially succeeds. The end result is a completely implausible romance. What do these two have in common that makes them bond? We are never told.

And then there's the other cadets. Sure, we're given some background on a few of them, but the potentially interesting ones, like J.J. and Vickers, are only given so much time to shine. I don't want to spoil anything, but even those that make it to the end of the movie aren't given much background and character. April (Enisha Brewster), the commanding cadet officer, in particular, is really underused. She's easily the coolest of the bunch, but she gets the least character development, though she still has some great scenes.

There's also the issues this story raises for just how the Human-Covenant War got started. I haven't read the Halo books, but from what I understand, the war began when the Covenant invaded the planet Harvest about a year before Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. I think it's implied in here that the whole alien invasion thing was being kept secret from the rest of humanity, but I find that a pretty hard bite to swallow. I also read somewhere that it was stated in one of the books that humanity didn't run into Elites and Hunters until sometime later in the war, yet there a Elites and Hunters in this movie. If there are any Halo book readers in the audience, I would like to be enlightened.

On the whole, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn isn't the best thing I've ever seen, having serious flaws. I want to like it, and again, I loved it serialized form, but as I said before, it just doesn't work as a movie. What's good about it though is that it's still available online, free to watch, albeit without the extra footage at the beginning. For this reason, if you're a die hard Halo fan, then you might want to pick it up on DVD, or at least watch it on Netflix. Otherwise, though, just go see it online. You'll have a lot more fun watching it that way; I certainly did. Mind you, however, this is a movie based on a first person shooter, so there's some gore, but not a lot, mixed in with a one or two cases of severe swearing. I'm actually surprised at how tame it was compared to the actual Halo games, which by themselves are pretty tame for a first person shooter.

RATING: 6.5/10

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Halo

I'll be honest; I'm not a very big video game guy. Sure, I've played through the first two LEGO Star Wars games and Batman: Arkham City, and way back in the day I used to play LEGO Island, Liberty's Kids, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, and various Winnie the Pooh learning games, all of which I have fond memories of. Heck, I even tried taking up Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic not to long ago, before I decided it was a waste of time, even for a video game. But there's still one game I've played only a little that I follow very closely. Truth is, I'm terrible at this particular game, have little taste for it's genre, and have never owned a single copy of any of the series' installments. Yet, I am deeply awed by the detailed story, emotional depth, stellar visuals, and cool characters.

That game series is, of course, Halo.

Beginning with Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001 and going through seven more installments, the most recent being last year's Halo 4, the Halo saga follows the adventures of various heroes of the United Nations Space Command in their desperate war against the ultra-destructive, fanatically religious alien alliance known as the Covenant. The main hero of this first person shooter series is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Spartan John-117, most commonly known as Master Chief. A Spartan-II super soldier, Master Chief has to fight not only the Covenant, but also a parasitic race of space zombies called the Flood. In the most recent installment, Halo 4, you get to fight against the Prometheans and the Covenant, but not the Flood, and there are no Brutes. In Halo 3: ODST, you fight against just the Covenant, but there are no Elites to fight. Master Chief is assisted by his A.I./girlfriend Cortana, who provides helpful instruction in all of the games that Master Chief appears in save the majority of Halo 3, and gives Chief someone to talk to in Halo 4.

Backed by his easily killed Marine followers, Master Chief later teams with the Arbiter in Halo 3 (you get to play as the Arbiter in some parts of Halo 2). The Arbiter is a Sangheili, better known as an Elite, a Covenant holy warrior turned de facto leader of the Elite people after the Elites broke away from the main Covenant to Ally with the humans. In Halo 3: ODST you play as an assortment of characters in an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) squad. These characters include "the Rookie," known by some studious research at the Halo wiki as James D. Also in the squad and available to play as are Buck, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo. In Halo: Reach you play as Noble 6, a Spartan-III who is customizable by the player, including the character's gender. Halo Wars is a noticeable departure from the other games in that it is not a first person shooter, but a real time strategy game, kind of like Age of Empires. It's the only Halo game that I have not watched a YouTube walkthrough of. And really, that's the only way I know so much about Halo. I haven't read the books or comics, but I've learned a lot about Halo through the glory of the internet. One day, I will read the books and the comics, and maybe I'll watch the animated series, Halo Legends. I've seen Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn in both episodic web form and compiled movie form (the former was much better), and I've watched my share of videos at Halo Waypoint. And I will continue to gather information about Halo.

My favorite game of the series in undoubtedly Halo 3: ODST, which I believe is an underrated gem. It has some degree of unpopularity among gamers due to its short campaign and lack of new maps. However, I find it to be my favorite because of its many references to the Divine Comedy through a side story called Sadie's Story and it's deep character portrayals. I have a soft spot for Halo 2 because it's the first game of the series that I ever played, and introduces my favorite character, the Arbiter, but I would one day like to play Halo 3: ODST. If I could just get my mind around how the controls work, I'd be groovy.

My all time favorite Halo character is the Arbiter (also known as Thel 'Vadam), because of his interesting backstory and unique characterization. I hope that in future Halo games the creators will reveal what exactly happened to him after Halo 3. I haven't read the Kilo-5 series for more information on this, but I've heard bad reports about it. The author, Karren Travis, isn't exactly on my scope as an author worthy of my attention. I've heard really bad things about her work in the Star Wars universe. Yikes. Other favorite characters of mine include Commander Miranda Keyes, Lord Hood, Chips Dubbo, Sergeant Johnson, Rtas 'Vadum, the Rookie, Thomas Lasky, Mickey, and, of course, Master Chief himself.

In sum, Halo is a grand saga on the level of Star Wars, and I would heartily recommend the books and comics for your reading pleasure, but I have not yet read those books and comics, so I am unable to.  However, when I read them, I will be sure to recommend them if I find them worthy of that honor. It is also one of my inspirations for my writing, and I will readily look to it when I write a science fiction story some day. Thusly, I hereby recommend the Halo games, with the exception of Halo Wars because I haven't watched a walkthrough of that movie yet, to all of you gamers out there who like to play semi-gory first person shooters (I say "semi-gory" because most of the blood in Halo is blue, and not entirely excessive), which, as Sergeant Johnson would say, is wrapped up in an epic science-fiction story which is so freaky, it gives me shivers just thinking about it. So, go read/watch/play some Halo!

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Review: Booster Gold: Day of Death

The character of Booster Gold began as an interesting idea. Creator Dan Jurgens was watching the Olympics, and noticed how a lot of the athletes were promoting products even before they had won medals. So, Jurgens thought, what would it be like if there was a superhero who did that that? Someone who was willing to perform heroic duties, but wasn't afraid to cash in on the whole merchandising and licensing cash cow that would come with a superhero in reality. Thus, Booster Gold was born.

Without getting into the nitty gritty details, Booster Gold is Michael Jon Carter, a nobody from the future who used time travel and other technology from the future to become a superhero in the present. He cashed in on his superhero image, but eventually became a more serious hero, joining up with Time Master Rip Hunter to help protect the integrity of the time stream as the greatest hero history will never know (TM).

In this volume (originally published in 2010), Booster briefly teams up with anti-hero Magog, has a little adventure in 1952 with an early version of Task Force X, and later faces off with Trigon and the mysterious Black Beetle in an alternate future where Trigon defeated a Batman-less Justice League.

Booster Gold is, at heart, a irreverent and silly title. Its main focus is on humor and fun adventure stories than on being a serious story. If you want a (slightly more) serious story with Booster Gold, read the very good Justice League: Generation Lost. Booster Gold's time traveling escapades are fun to watch, as he valiantly works for the good of all. And while the humor isn't the greatest, the title still retains a lighthearted spirit which makes the title shine. Granted, there's nothing particularly notable about this trade paperback, which has a lot to top what with the previous volume's madcap time traveling antics where Booster Gold wound up fighting his past self while dressed up as Elvis (you'd have to read it for it to make sense), but it's not by any means a bad title. I particularly enjoyed the final chapter where Booster renews his alliance with the new Batman, Dick Grayson, who was subbing for Bruce Wayne. The art is also quite excellent, not by any means perfect, but still rather good.

On the whole, Booster Gold: Day of Death is a good addition to any Booster Gold fan's library, and I'd recommend it to any readers to enjoy a fun adventure story. That said, I enjoyed it a little, but I didn't dislike it.

RATING: 8/10

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