July 11, 2003
Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, J K Rowling (Bloomsbury)
Well, due to other things it took a little longer to read this than it might have, but read it I did. James has given a quick run through the other books in his review, and I have to say that I read the first 3 books, one after the other, and then Goblet Of Fire came out at just the right time... but of course the next book took a little longer to arrive, even as a hardback. And what a long wait it has been... but was it worth it? In short, oh yeah.
You may have noticed in the comment I left that I found the opening chapters a little stressful... I stand by that, not just because I've just come out of a rather stressful time myself! The book, while there is a slight feeling of dotting the I's and crossing each and every T with it's mentions of events in other books, and making sure just about everyone you might have heard mentioned previously is seen or heard about, the book is a slightly different beast to it's predecessors...
There is an air of secrets hidden everywhere, and of lies muttered in every corner - this is by far the darkest book in the series so far. Harry, while at the centre of every page, is so out of the loop (the reader will realise much of what is going on before he finally does) during the course of the book that you really have to simpathise with him from beginning to end. All this stress, and taking his OWLs too!
Again, Rowling has pulled the rabbit out of the hat - just when the series should be becoming stale (most fantasy literature loses steam after the third book or so, and often fail to recapture it for the finale) she manages to set up the world for the next two books in the same way that she did at the end of Goblet.
And for those moaning that her writing style isn't very adult, so what - the series is for kids, but like His Dark Materials and Lord of The Rings, it trancends the barriers and even old men read it while watching tennis matches.
An excellent read, for young and old, but be warned that kiddies might find it a little scary as bedtime reading... which is a good thing - 4.5 out of 5 ('cos the last two books will be even bigger and no doubt even farther into the future!!!)
Have you seen the prices that these books were going for on Ebay in the days after release? This rare book (so rare you could go to WHSmiths and pick up a copy from the pile at £4 off!!) was going for tens of pounds... one I saw was heading towards £150!!! Madness!!! A few days pass, and even the copy with pages printed upside down at the beginning (I kid you not!) had only reached £49... If I play my cards right, I may be able to make a fortune by selling my first edition!!!
Posted by Badgers at 05:36 PM | Comments (1)
May 03, 2003
Postal 2 (Running With Scissors)
This is a review of a game which is (surprisingly)going to make it to this country, but will be savaged for so many reasons. But is it worth such treatment? Is it that bad? Well, it had to be better than the original Postal...!
Hmm - not really - it's fairly average, but a lot of fun while it lasts. If you have an open mind and are not easily offended! There are a lot of minus points against it though, so I'll start with those...
Okay - it's racist, but both ways - this was definitely written by people in a nice office and not a redneck in the dusty swamps, mainly because the rednecks come into the same amount of flak as the be-turbaned terrorists. And considering the hatred in the game for butchers, the programmers are probably vegatarians too - there is far less gore than I expected. A lot more swearing though! Right, now thats out of the way, here is the main minus points...
Firstly, no multiplayer, though this will be fixed in an upcoming patch. This is an unforgivable error! Secondly, the weapon selection is rather small, if varied, though what use the scissors are, I never found out! And the fact that there is not too much point in shooting at people's legs to make them limp or blow off a leg - only the head is explodable, and even that is only possible with the hunting rifle or point blank with the shotgun... the damage plays out more like an arcade game than a FPS. Thirdly, and this is the biggy, is that the layout of the game isn't anything special - it may be powered by the Unreal II engine, but it sure ain't unreal! The landscape is pretty basic, and not a lot of design work seems to have gone into it - it's almost as if the programmers knew they were not going to make millions (though the lawyers might!) and din'f spend a lot of time on it. The character design too, is generally shoddy, though the ragdoll physics used means that the dead bodies can get into some... interesting.. positions, should you want to look (Nick!)
The plus points are there though - the game is quite challenging, and is a lot of fun. Pouring gas on someone, and then tossing a match at them is spectacular, but somehow this pales when you find you can stick a cat on the end of the shotgun to be a silencer... I also like the ability to ander around the town almost at will, especially later on, though the loading times are atrocious, escpecially considering how small some of the areas actually are. The one liners are a major plus point too, with some rather memorable ones cropping up (thoug repeated too often - at least in Duke Nukem 3D and Serious Sam they only cropped up when needed), though some are still funny the umpteenth time... "Sorry, I'm feeling a little psychotic today!' being a personal favourite.
So, if you can get this cheap, do so - if you have to pay full price, walk away now... it's certainly not that bad, but it's 'politics' may leave you a little 'Postal' yourself!
So it's 2.5/5 from me, mainly due to the fact it's quite average, if fun, but the loading times are a bitch! And the dreadful lack of multiplayer...
Whatchutalkinaboutwillis? Is it really Gary Coleman's voice? I think we shuld be told! The credits don't say anything!
As I mentioned in the reiveiw, there is a lot of racial stereotyping, from terroist Islamic towelheads to rednecks - it goes both ways. Even the cops are not immune - you can use donuts to entice them to help you...
But seriously, this is not a game for the faint hearted or easily offended - everything should, of coursse, b taken in fun, but perhaps it does go a little far - in my first version of the review (before the crash) I noted that it might not make it here - I'm amazed it will be, but it might well sell, considering the voting in the local elections this past week...
Oh, and it might make it here, but if you live in Germany, the cat+shotgun antics are going to be a little harder to get hold of! Even with green blood!
Posted by Badgers at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith (Polygon)
I have a slight penchant for mystery novels that are not quite the norm... witness my love of Lindsey Davis' excellent Marcus Falco series... but occasionally I find something a little different. Not set in Ancient Rome, Egypt or the depths of space. And quite a long way from any Agatha Christie you've ever read. And often in 2 for 1 deals at Waterstones in Manchester!
Which brings me (sort of!) to the subject of this review - The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Currently numbering four books, it is the story not just of the agency itself, and its various cases, but of the people involved, from the owner, Precious Ramotswe, her assistant Mma Makutsi, her friend Mr J.L.B Matekoni, et al. And the setting? Contemporary Botswana. There, that caught you, didn't it?
So, no big house mysteries, no locked room murders, not a lot of precious jewels going astray after expensive dinner parties, then. But Mma Ramotswe does owe quite a lot to Agatha Christie' Miss Marple, and much to a certain bible of Detective work she keeps on a shelf in the office!
Currently the series comprises The No1 Ladies Detective Agency, Tears of The Giraffe, Morality for Beautiful Girls, and The Kalahari Typing School For Men. Each novel has a number of little mysteries, and one larger one, ranging from finding unfaithful husbands to fraud investigation. So definitly no big-house-locked-room mysteries then. But that isn't the point - these books are not about the investigations (excellent though they are), but about the people themselves. Early books linger on Mma Ramotswe, but later books open up to follow the lives of the other characters, each as well realised as the rest. You can come to care for these people, even though they live in a country that is far removed from your own. In fact, Smith makes Botswana seem like a rather wonderful place, though there are still things lingering beneath the surface of the 'old Botswana morality', especially for those who don't have it, such as the Nigerians or the Zulu.
Definitely a recommended series if you want something little out of the ordinary, and both funny, uplifting and occasionaly tragic at the same time.
So its a strong 4.5/5 from me, and I look forward to the next in the series!
Alexander McCall Smith is a Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh Law School, and has written a number of books, both fiction and non fiction, such as The Forensic Aspects of Sleep and The Criminal Law Of Botswana. His other fiction includes a series of children's books (such as The Perfect Hamburger), a book of African folk tales called Children Of Wax, and a book I have to hunt down about eccentic german professors called Portuguese Irregular Verbs!
Posted by Badgers at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2003
'His Dark Materials' Trilogy, Philip Pullman (Point)
Now, I don't read much fantasy as I prefer hard SF, gothic horror, etc, but I had read reviews, though I only got the books a short time ago (in a 3 for 2 offer at Waterstones) as I was at a loose end book-wise. I thought they might be a good read. How wrong I was. 'Good' hardly describes them, or the incredible imagination behind them...
Comprising the three novels Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, the His Dark Materials trilogy has won awards and plaudits almost everywhere. Coming out at the same time as the early Harry Potter novels, it was also designed as a fantasy for young people, but with an edge that even Prisoner of Azkaban lacked. People die, people that you come to care about, and often messily. It's that kind of world, or worlds, as it turns out.
The first book (Northern Lights) is set in a world similar to our own, but with differences - people have daemons in the form of animals that are an extension of themelves, and the Church is all powerful, and the mystery of Dust sparks a trail of horror, betrayal and a grand quest. Fantasy sits comfortably with the familiar, and you find yourself drawn into the adventures of a young girl, Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon before you know it. The story focuses exclusively on Lyra in this book, and her quest to find her friend Roger after he disappears from Jordan College in Oxford, supposedly taken by the ''. This quest takes her from Oxford to the sub-arctic wastes, and we meet Lords, Gyptians, Witches, and a race of evolved bears along the way... and at no point do you think it strange. If there is a problem, it is that once the book grabs you (somewhere in the first chapter, I assure you!) you find yourself pulled along on a headlong flight, and occasionally you want to stay a little longer, until the end rises up and has you reaching for the next volume...
By contrast, The Subtle Knife begins in our world, opening out to follow other charcters, including Will, a young boy from our Oxford who has been involved for longer than he knows - the first meeting between the daemonless Will and Lyra is priceless, and from here the story begins it's headlong plunge, first with the exploration of Cittagazze, and then the flight into other worlds... each beautiful and deadly.
The Amber Spyglass rounds off the trilogy by going even further, and sparking a war in which the end is far from certain, and the two children are are the very heart. And an ending that will hurt, I promise!
More for young adults than young children due to the betrayal, violence, horror and complexity, this should not be missed by any fantasy reader, young or old. Well written, engaging, and with characters that stand out from the page, this is a classic, and worth a place on any bookshelf!
A positive 5/5 for each and every book - stunning.
I know that after the success of Harry Potter as movies, the trilogy is likely to be made sooner or later, but considering the dumbing down and changes made to make that series acceptable (Azkaban will be neutered, or else get a 15 rating as a film), I doubt it would be anything but a disaster. I can see much vanishing or being made nicer, with the horror toned down so that it's no longer chilling - when it happens, Pullman doesn't flinch away or hide it, as death is not a nice thing for any character, even once in death's domain, in this series - and even the key theme of adolescence jiggered with. True, The Lord Of The Rings seems to be coming through well, but unless Peter Jackson can be pursuaded to make another great fantasy trilogy in one lump (the events happen over a few weeks, so any aging or voices dropping would be a little too obvious), it will not come close to working. I suppose Hallmark could possibly make a stab at it, as a big miniseries (and Miranda Richardson playing Mrs Coulter would work)... The best thing would be to wait, and hope that it remains on the page, as to dilute the power of this trilogy would be unforgivable.
Posted by Badgers at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)