A Descent into Dullness

1/1 - 1/18
Travelers s.1

1/8 - 1/15
Travelers s.2:  A fairly clever time travel show.  Basically future people live in underground bunkers 'cause everything is total shit.  So to fix that they've figured out a way to send peoples minds back in time.  Where they can then overwrite someone in the past.  But for ethics reasons they only pick people who would have died in the next moment anyway.  Good cast led by Will from Will & Grace.  Season 2 adds Enrico Colantoni so thats cool.
Brawl in Cell Block 99:  I never would have thought you could base a brutal prison fight movie around Vince Vaughn.  Like when watching Fred Claus I didn't think, I wish I could have a movie where that guy just punches some dude's face off.  And yet it all works out pretty well.  Vaughn does the quiet yet sarcastic brooder with giant depths of violent rage quite well.

So lj-friend nihilistic_kid was the editor I guess on the translation of the original Japanese book/manga All You Need is Kill (much cooler title by the way) into English.  And was part of the pitch for the movie, describing it to one of the executives as Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day.  Which at its most basic is fairly accurate.  Jerk-ass becomes better person by having to relive the same day over and over and over again.  Though this day involves less small town rodent related celebration and more fighting alien robot death squids.  Tom Cruise is pretty good in his normally Tom Cruise way.  Both as the smarmy Army PR specialist and later after untold days of training as the bad ass action hero.  Emily Blount is always great, here as the war hero the Angel of Verdun a soldier who used to have the same condition as Cruise's character.  The time travel logic basically holds up under its own rules.  Fun action scifi action movie with good action spots, some humor and isn't agressively stupid...

Very much one of the best scifi movies of recent years. Even beside some great work from both Gordon-Levitt and Willis. And I have to say, the dystopian world building is the best I've seen in a movie in quite awhile...

ETA: I shouldn't forget some big kudos to Emily Blunt. Especially the quiet moment on the farm porch...

Since there are only a couple hours left for April, I should probably get around to doing my March book list.

Starting with Ian Fleming's Live & Let Die. Which was really surprisingly racist. I mean enough that I had to give up on it about a quarter way in. I guess I'll never know if the scene where James Bond runs across the backs of a pond full of alligators was just added for the movie...

Read the latest Grantville Gazette, the 40th and still edited by Paula Goodlet. Also picked up the eArc for the next "Ring of Fire" book, 1636: Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Goodlet and Gorg Huff. Its set in Russia over several years and is an expansion from one of my favorite sets of stories from the Gazettes...

Borrowed a new urban fantasy from the roommate. Well magical milspec maybe. Myke Cole's Shadow Ops: Control Point is a decent first book, with basically a super-hero forced enlistment thing going on, except with magic instead of other types of super-power origins...

Then more of Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's "Liaden" space opera series. Plan B and I Dare follow various members of the series protagonist noble family as they basically go to war against the shadow espionage organization at the heart of their own government. Still lots of psychics and space stuff and swashbucklery. And Lee & Miller's Turtle aliens quickly made their way onto the top of my favorite alien races list...

Also got some new David Weber books, the newest "Honor Harrington" book Rising Thunder and the prequel young adult A Beautiful Friendship for the same setting. RT does have a lot less in the ship battles and more in the political maneuvering and group meetings. The other follows the teen-age Stephanie Harrington, one of the first humans to bond with one of the settings psychic Sphinxian Tree-cats...

After that was three eBooks I'd had on pre-order for a while. Starting with Seanan McGuire's series starter Discount Armageddon. A fun book where the lead attempts to balance her desire to be a pro-ballroom dancer with her family tradition as cryptozoologists. Then the latest from Patricia Brigg's "Alpha/Omega" werewolf series, Fair Game. With the fallout from the end of a hunt for a serial killer that preys on supernatural people looking to have a huge impact on both of Briggs' series in that universe. And lastly a new "Temeraire" series. Crucible of Gold has Temeraire and Cpt. Laurence called back into service and ending up enmeshed with the powerful Incan Empire...

A few books then from the Kindle cheap deals section. Karen McInerney's Dead & Berried was a pretty good murder mystery, part of her "Gray Whale Inn Mysteries" series. Though the tiny bit of supernatural element added into the very end felt tacked on and out of place. Kate DiCamillo's the Magician's Elephant was a truly delightful and enchanting children's book. Wonderfully evocative and charming. Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles was an ok if predictable bit of teen melodrama with a disappointing ending. And finally Jim Lynch's the Highest Tide was a nice enough coming-of-age story, mostly noteworthy for some interesting ocean biology stuff...

Also decided to check out a pair of choose-your-own-adventure series that have been partially converted over to the Kindle. Amazon has the first two of Joe Dover's "Lone Wolf" books and the first four of the "Fighting Fantasy" series. Flight From the Dark, the first "Lone Wolf" book worked very well and even had a lot of expanded content added. Deathtrap Dungeon had a much more frustrating save point system. Which given how easy it was to die in it caused me to give up after a half-dozen attempts...

Started on a new scifi series from the roommate's collection with Tobias Buckell's Crystal Rain. Enjoyable, once I got used to nearly everyone speaking all Jamaican style...

A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith was a fun little young adult piece. With princes in disguise, kidnappings and noble balls and games and such...

The relatively short Clementine by Cherie Priest is a fun sidestory in her "Clockwork Century" series. Less of the zombies and more of the air pirates and spy-adventureress joint action...

I picked up Brian Clevenger's Nuklear Age on the cheap because I love both his webcomics and Atomic Robo. And that was in spite of Clevenger's own warnings that his rookie work was terrible. And man was he not kidding. The thing is just DIRE. Hilariously so at times. Still not amusing enough that I didn't tap out barely a quarter way in...

After that I needed a palate cleanser, so I went with a reread of Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South. Where time traveling South African white supremacists arm the Confederacy was AK-47s so that they'll win the Civil War. Good stuff...

Then another piece of alt history. Or at least alternate universe history with Matt Ruff's the Mirage. The big concept here is that the role of the Middle East and the United States are reversed at 9/11. With Christian fundamentalist terrorists based out of the U.S. hijacking several airliners and crashing them into skyscrapers in Baghdad in the United Arab States. Good story, creative twists and interesting lead characters. Though I'm still a bit unsure on how I feel about the ending...

And finishing out the month with a pair of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" books, the Mugger and the Con Artist. Prose in these was a bit overdone at times, but I still might pick up some more of the series to give it more of a taste...

Total books: 25

Followed up April's reading of all the "Ring of Fire" anthologies with rereading the shared world novels for the series in May. Starting with Eric Flint's 1632 and then Flint and David Weber's 1633 and 1634: The Baltic War...

Then a brief break to check out Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot. Which is the start of an urban fantasy series set in London following a rookie half-North African rookie cop slash trainee wizard. The main villain in the debut is a rage-inducing mad ghost...

Then back to RoF with the Flint edited 1634: Ram Rebellion anthology and the Flint/Andrew Dennis Papal States books 1634: the Gallileo Affair and 1635: the Cannon Law...

And then back to Aaronovitch again. His second book Moon Over Soho with jazz-obsessed spirits, vindictive river godlings and a secret magical cabal from the 70s. I'm really digging this series. Very dry British wit combined with some truly horrible violence and horror...

But then more of the Grantville time travelers. Flint and Virginia DeMarce's 1634: the Bavarian Crisis and 1635: the Dreeson Incident, Demarce alone on Tangled Webs and finally Flint soloing 1635: the Eastern Front and 1636: the Saxon Uprising...

After that I got to some ongoing series. The latest from Charlaine Harris', Dead Reckoning. Where one of Sookie's various old foes (or maybe someone new) attempts to burn down Merlotte's. Plus fucked up vampire politics thanks to King of Nevada's take-over of the Louisana territory. Which does lead to a confrontation whose centerpiece is a return of Bubba. Not having brain-damaged Elvis in the tv series is the one change I'm most unhappy with about "True Blood"...

Then more time travel. This time with Connie Willis Blackout. A middle book to the academic time traveler series that started with To Say Nothing of the Dog. Excellent look at the London Blitz from the perspective of three different trapped undercover historians...

And then got to E.E. Knight's Winter Duty. I never understand why the roommate dislikes this series set in a post-apocalypse Earth. Or William Dietz' "Legion of the Dammned". Both have basically evolved into slightly modified milspec fiction. And he enjoys that genre with Dan Abnett's Warhammer 40k stuff or Bernard Cornwell. Oh well, Winter Duty has Valentine struggling to keep his unit of former Quisling troops active after a change in government leaves them out in the cold...

Next I tried out another book of the roommates, from the giant pile of stuff he bought practically blind. Gods of Manhattan by Al Ewing is a pulpish bit of alt history with expies of Doc Savage (Doc Thunder), the Shadow (Blood-Spider) and Zorro (El Sombra). Fairly enjoyable book full of secret Nazi/criminal groups, somewhat steampunk-ish modern trappings and over-the-top heroes and villains. Though I'll admit to be somewhat ashamed at how long it took me to figure out who deceased vigilante the Blue Ghost was an homage to. Especially with his former sidekick, Japanese street kid turned cop Weston East...

I am proud to say that I read Terry Pratchett and Bernard Parson's the Discworld Almanac - the Year of the Prawn as it (and all almanacs) was meant to be read. Over a month, when on the toilet...

Finished up the month with another pair of ongoing urban fantasy series entries. Kat Richardson's Vanished where her Greywalker lead ends up in London dealing with crazy vampire infighting. It is nice to see the occasional series in this genre where the vamps aren't misunderstood angsty dark angels. But just various styling of total fucking bastards...

The other and final book was Mark del Franco's Uncertain Allies. I like the sereis. But I occasionally wonder about the magical groups in the world who aren't based on Celtic or Teutonic folklore. Are they all just smart enough not to get exiled back to the human world or something? I mean given the arrogant idiocy of the leadership of the Celtic Faeries and German Elves I can see not being willing to have anything to do with anything they've touched...

Total books: 20

1. People want to see A Tale of Two Cities meets The Terminator.

2. The principal use Time Travel has is for attaining Profit.

3. Even more than a shark or Sith Lord, no one wants Edward Cullen as a roommate.

4. Most popular comic strip movie choice is Beetle Bailey: AWOL. I see Matt Damon attached to it.

5. The main reason none of you selfish people have sent me my monkey is because you keep irradiating them in an attempt to create criminal super-apes.

6. Pixar's Duck Tales would in fact be the shit.

7. Instead of feeling sick it would be better to have a head full of sexiness, yummy pie or a Summer's day.

8. The use of time portals to summon dinosaurs will be stopped by a mastery of bureaucratic red tape and civic regulations combined with having a teen side-kick.

9. Full! Contact! Calvinball!

10. I should eat rye bread, shredded cheese and dry cereal? You people are just weird.

BONUS! You all think foot biting is the most common way for my cat to communicate. You're wrong. Its like 3rd at most...

4 A.M. is the stupidest of the A.M.s. In fact I'll go so far as to say its the dumbest of all the Hours in the whole of the Day. It should be sent back to O'Clock School to get some more learnin'...

As a time travel story this anime was..well silly. The "rules" for how Makoto can make her time jumps aren't worked out very well. The movie does use the gimmick for some amusing sequences though. As a teen romantic drama it works better. Even if I thought the ending could have been stronger...