The Saga of Jonathan Volsung

New writing & Old

Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch and the critics: Part One

25 March 2012

Critique, Screen

Fantasy, Zack Snyder

No movie release in 2011 was more misunderstood and unfairly maligned as a result of misunderstanding than Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. Odds are you’ll disagree with that statement. An indication of the movie’s reception by “audiences” (non-professional reviewers) and the critics can be found on Rotten Tomatoes, where audience approval is calculated to be 47%,…

Sucker Punch

Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch and the critics: Part Two

23 March 2012

Critique, Screen

Fantasy, Zack Snyder

Rather than giving a blow-by-blow breakdown of the narrative I’ll end with some pointers to what I think is going on. Reference to a few scenes should suffice, starting, as is only proper, with the very first scene. [This article is in two parts, the first part a look at the critical response to Sucker…

Flashback

Flashback, by Dan Simmons: “scarily possible” future or Right wing propaganda?

2 August 2011

Books, Critique

Dan Simmons, Dystopia, SF

Dan Simmons’ latest novel, Flashback (July 2011), is “[a] provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible,” proving “why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.” So says the publicist anyway. Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers, but sadly Flashback doesn’t prove that. And…

A God Somewhere

Review: A God Somewhere, by John Arcudi, Peter Snejbjerg & Bjarne Hansen

9 December 2010

Graphic Novel, Reviews

It’s been almost 25 years since Alan Moore’s Watchmen exploded onto the comic book scene. With its three-dimensional characters, moral complexity and more realistic depiction of violence, Watchmen introduced a new paradigm for the superhero graphic novel: Alan Moore took a sledge-hammer to the concept of the superhero and from the shattered pieces built something…

Neil Gaiman

So Neil Gaiman is a Scientologist, you say?

8 July 2010

Almost any time we write anything about Neil Gaiman, you can be sure that someone will feel the need to post a comment “outing” the man as a Scientologist. While we have a fairly relaxed attitude to comments and will publish almost anything that contributes to an article, you won’t find many comments about Neil…

Valhalla Rising

Valhalla Rising: bloody and intelligent Viking saga or just bloody awful?

7 June 2010

Reviews, Screen

Valhalla Rising

Finally having had the opportunity to watch Nicholas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising, I now appreciate why it was received so well at film festivals and yet failed to get a wide theatrical release. It’s hard going. On one hand it’s almost unbearably brutal and on the other it is layered with the sort of mind-bending…

Avatar Review: Did Avatar deserve the Oscar for Best Picture?

20 March 2010

Opinion, Reviews, Screen

James Cameron, Mythology

I haven’t felt the need to watch a movie on the big screen more than once for years, preferring instead to wait for the DVD release for repeat viewings, but last week I took myself off to watch James Cameron’s Avatar for the third time. My enthusiasm for this movie has grown with each viewing…

Solomon Kane

Solomon Kane, Redemption and White Supremacy

19 January 2010

Critique, Screen

Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane

Michael J. Bassett’s Solomon Kane is taking its good time to make its way to screens around the world. With a strangely staggered release since late 2009, it has so far only been shown widely in France, Russia and Spain, and is scheduled for a 19 February release in the UK. There’s still no word…

Philip K Dick

Philip K. Dick: Rebel with a Cause (Part 1)

29 November 2009

Books, Critique

Death has been kind to the everlasting memory of Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), one of the most influential and perhaps also one of the most eccentric authors of the twentieth century. Since his untimely death at the age of 53 there’s been nothing short of an explosion of interest in the man and his work…

The Fountain

Aronofsky’s The Fountain – an interpretation

16 October 2007

Critique, Reviews, Screen

Daren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a movie that divides opinion. During its press screening at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2006 it was booed; at the public screening the following evening it received a 10 minute standing ovation. To get an idea of just how divided opinion is, take a look at…

The Screaming Staircase

Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud

28 June 2013

Fantasy, Fiction, Jonathan Stroud

Three years have passed since Jonathan Stroud conjured up the last instalment in his diabolically good Bartimaeus Sequence, but our wait for another ripping yarn is soon to end. I was a latecomer to Stroud’s fiction – it wasn’t until the publication of the final novel in the Bartimaeus Sequence that I stumbled across it…

The Mad Max Trilogy

7 June 2013

News, Reviews, Screen

Is there anything to say about the Mad Max Trilogy that hasn’t already been said in the thirty four years since audiences first thrilled to the deep rumble and furious roar of the last of the V8 Interceptors? Now there was a sound to strike fear into the hearts of the feral punks reaving their way…

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 [***]

25 April 2013

Reviews, Screen

Avengers, Iron Man, Marvel, Superhero

As Lt. Col. James Rhodes might say (privately at least), Iron Man 3 rox. The first cab off the rank since Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3 is a worthy addition to the Marvel stable. There’s no surprise that it fails to measure up to the ensemble magnificence of The Avengers – and really,…

Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell heads for the small screen

11 April 2013

Books, News, Screen

Adaptation, Fantasy

In November last year the BBC quietly announced plans to adapt Susanna Clarke’s multi-award winning novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, as a mini-series of 6 hour long episodes. The BBC broke the news so quietly in fact that we missed the announcement of what could well be a television highlight of 2014. Never mind,…

The City's Son

The City’s Son, by Tom Pollock

13 February 2013

China Mieville, Fantasy, Tom Pollock, Urban Fantasy

Kibble. A word coined by the late great Philip K. Dick to describe those useless objects which proliferate in our lives and threaten to overwhelm us over time. Kibble proliferates, it replicates, it accumulates, contributing little of value to our existence. I can think of no better word to describe the vast majority of novels…

Brian J. Robb's Steampunk: An Illustrated History.

Brian J. Robb’s Steampunk: An Illustrated History…

11 December 2012

Brian J. Robb’s Steampunk: An Illustrated History of Fantastical Fiction, Fanciful Film and Other Victorian Visions is described by its publisher, Voyager Press, as “the definitive book on the writers, film-makers, artisans and aesthetes who created the extraordinary genre”. It’s a bold claim to make of a work about a literary sub-genre and cultural movement…

Cockwork Angels

Clockwork Angels: A review

20 October 2012

Adaptation, Brian Herbert, Dune, Frank Herbert, Rush

Few novels in recent months have crossed my desk for review and been snatched up with as much enthusiasm as Clockwork Angels, a collaboration between legendary Canadian rock band Rush and prolific SF author Kevin J. Anderson. While novelisation’s of rock albums are few and far between – giving this project a certain fascination right off…

Terminator

They’re back: The Terminator Anthology has arrived

6 September 2012

News, Reviews, Screen

James Cameron, Terminator

There’s no question that James Cameron’s contribution to modern SF cinema has been considerable. Quite where he stands in the ranks of significant SF writer/directors is debatable, but to my mind he’s up there with Ridley Scott. As with Scott, Cameron hasn’t written and directed a great number of SF movies, but what he has…

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises

26 July 2012

Reviews, Screen

Batman, DC, Superhero

How much unrestrained enthusiasm can a reviewer get away with before being dismissed as an uncritical fan, I wonder. I might just be about to find out. For the second time this year I’m struggling to rein in my enthusiasm and keep check of the superlatives I feel the need to toss about with wild…

Warcraft

Is it game-over for the World of Warcraft movie?

22 July 2012

Adaptation, Fantasy, Warcraft

Almost three years of silence have followed the announcement that Sam Raimi was attached to direct a big screen adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. Typically a silence of this magnitude indicates that a project has bitten the dust or found its way into development hell, but reading between the lines of Raimi’s recent announcement…

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