The OA

Title: The OA
Outlet: Netflix
Net: A show built on a mystery, centered on a character you want to understand.

As I said in the post which contains The List, I realized, as I was discussing "TV" shows with people, I had begun to forget to recommend "The OA."  And that's too bad!

The problem with trying to get people to watch "The OA" is that telling them almost anything about the plot spoils something which gets revealed in such an entertaining way, often in such a profound way, that it seems unfair to do that to a friend.

Here's kinda what I mean.

When Sherry and I started the first episode of "The OA" the ONLY thing we knew about it was that it had been recommended to us by people who we trust - people who know the kind of thing we enjoy watching.  Whoever it was (please take credit if you were among the people who recommended it; I simply can't recall; I have this feeling it was Lucas and Amelia, but maybe not...) also told us to watch it without knowing anything.  And we did.

Each episode unwraps more and more of the mystery -- while, of course, adding new mysteries which need unwrapping -- without ever (ever!) seeming like a typical "red herring driven" or "you know this is not the answer because there's still 20 minutes left in the episode" mystery.  This is not some "whodunit?"  It's a "what's going on?!?"

Did you ever watch "Lost?" If you did, and you were drawn in as so much of the viewing public was, the "hook" of that show was the surprise endings that might have sorta/kinda answered some small part of a mystery, while at the same time shocking you with a NEW mystery you couldn't wait to see unfold next week.  Well, at its best, "Lost" was good at that.  "The OA" is at least that good.

Now I know at least one person who was not hooked after watching an episode or two, so I must accept that this show is not for everyone.  But I think if you just start watching episode one on a Friday night, and you give it your full attention, you will finish the season by Monday.  At least for us, it was binge-worthy on the order of "Stranger Things."

And I still haven't told you what it's about.  Maybe, someday, I'll add some spoilers to this.  But not now.  I will not spoil the thrill you can get if you walk in with just a recommendation.

It's good.  Start it.  Pay attention.  

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Title: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Outlet: Amazon Prime Video
Net: Great story; lots of laughs; wonderful characters; Almost everyone will like this!

Introduction: Miriam Maisel has the perfect life as the perfect Jewish wife in New York in the 1950's.  And it's no wonder - she's been working at it for years, and she's very good at what she does. She has two children (a boy AND a girl), an apartment in the same building as her parents, and a husband with a good job. Her husband even has an unusual interest in addition to his good job, so Miriam supports him, working her Midge magic to get him better opportunities.  Everything is perfect.  Until it isn't.  Her perfect life is thrown into ruins -- at least, "ruins" using the definition she, her friends, her family, and her upper-class Jewish culture all agreed on. Now what?

OK, folks, here is one of the "reviews" I'm going to write which will be in two sections.  This first part contains no spoilers.  I bet if you've heard even a little bit about this show, you know more than I'm going to tell you in the non-spoiler section.  But there are some things I can say without spoilers.

This is a very funny show!  The writing is crisp, the comedy very well built on reality, on pathos, on character.  Speaking of characters, there may be no more lovable character in the shows on The List than Miriam Maisel.  And her father is played by Tony Shaloub of "Monk" fame.  Think about this: have you ever seen Tony Shaloub in something and not enjoyed it?  He plays a college math professor, completely entrenched in the 1950s role prescribed by his job, culture and status as father and husband.  Though he is not the primary character in this show, he has foils in his daughter, his wife, and his wife's father-in-law, and those interactions are worth the price of admission.

But it's Miriam's show.  Sometimes called "Midge," Miriam has to figure out how to adapt to a very different life than she planned, while dealing with the outrageous (but historically and culturally accurate) expectations placed on her.  As you'd expect, she faces trials and roadblocks, but she starts to find her way into a new normal -- a normal that is quite abnormal, in the eyes of everyone she knows.

I can recommend this show to everyone.  Now, admittedly, there is a little brief nudity, so if you are completely put off by that (I think there are still a few people in the world) then have someone tell you when to close your eyes for 2.7 seconds.  The nudity is actually important to the story.  And, yes, there are some "bad words" but nothing out of the ordinary for mature fare these days.  And a few sexual innuendo comedic moments.  But seriously?  You will laugh.  And you will fall in love with Mrs. Maisel.

(This post is part of The List.)

OK, now I put in the SPOILER buffer so I can say a bit more to people who don't mind that sort of thing, or who have seen the show and want to see what I have to say about it.

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Most of what I'm about to write comes from the very first episode.

Miriam's husband, Joel, wants to be a stand-up comic.  Or, at least, he wants to work at it enough that he and Miriam leave the two children with her parents and their housekeeper on some evenings and go to a club where he can try out his act. After one disappointing night at the club, Joel informs Miriam that he doesn't like the life he has, and leaves her.  Just like that.

Now, Miriam is suddenly a woman whose husband has left, and is on a path to becoming a divorcee.  This is not the path she planned for.

There is nothing about this situation which is Miriam's fault.  Yet, in the 1950s social web in which she lives, the repercussions fall hard on her, as does the blame, and the responsibility to fix her situation.

Overwhelmed by her complete lack of control, Miriam gets very drunk, goes to the club where Joel had performed, gets on stage, and tells the audience her troubles.  And she makes them laugh.  Oh, does she make them laugh!

She also gets arrested.

For the rest of the 10 episode season, the consequences of that fateful sequence of events transform her life, as Miriam has to figure out what to do now that she is not the wife in a married couple, and now that she has seen a skill in herself she had never dreamed she had.

A couple of other character notes.

Alex Borstein plays Susie Myerson, who recognizes the raw talent Miriam displays, and wants to throw her lot in with the hero.  But she is no ordinary sidekick.  Not by a long shot.

Luke Kirby plays Lenny Bruce.  Yes, THAT Lenny Bruce.  I want to believe this show is based on history just so I can imagine this is what Lenny Bruce was really like.

And Jane Lynch! Jane Lynch has a role I am not going to spoil.

If this show only had one season, it would be a great show.  But I am pleased to say it has another coming out soon.  Thank goodness!  I'll laugh and laugh and love Mrs. Maisel.

The Chilling Adentures of Sabrina

Title: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Outlet: Netflix
Net: Not for everyone, but if you enjoy creative horror and can handle gore, and blatant Satanic mythology, you will find creative ideas and a very likeable hero.

Introduction: Sabrina Spellman is a young half-witch living in Greendale. She attends a normal high school with her mortal friends, but lives with her witch aunties, Zelda and Hilda, in their house, which is also the town mortuary.  As the series begins, she is approaching her sixteenth birthday, which naturally (or supernaturally, I suppose) occurs on Hallowe'en when a blood moon will appear.  On that birthday, she will be expected to sign her name in the book of the Dark Lord, and leave her mortal world behind.

None of what I've written so far is a spoiler.  You learn all of this within the first act of the first episode, and presumably you've started watching this show because of its premise.

Here are some other things you might know, or you might not.  They helped me decide to give this series a try.

Sabrina, the character, is from the "Archie" comic universe.  A very wholesome universe in the comics.  She was far more interesting a character than most of those found in Archie's hometown of Riverdale.  And, from my recollection, she was sweet and good-hearted.

Sabrina has had at least one other TV adaptation. I won't go look it up to see if there were more because the one I remember, which influenced me to try this one, starred Melissa Joan Hart.  It was a sitcom, and was, like the comics, sweet and wholesome.  (Hart was the perfect match for this, having come from Clarissa Explains It All, a Nickelodeon show which was one of the best "children's shows" which existed while my kids were growing up -- but I digress.)

Now, before you get the wrong idea, I was pretty darn sure that this new interpretation of the world of Sabrina was not going to be wholesome.  I've heard of the WB show Riverdale, and what I've heard makes it clear that it does not have a typical "Archie" flavor.  I have not seen it, at all, but I've been told.  So, I expected the new "Sabrina" to push the envelope.

Boy, does it!

Caveat:  At the point when I am writing this, I have only seen the first 5 episodes of the ten-episode first season.  If I decide to revise this review after seeing the full season, I will add to the bottom of this review.  Right now, at this moment, having finished 5 episodes, I wanted to capture my feelings.  I think it's important.  Here's why.

I almost stopped watching this series three times before episode five finished.  But now I am hooked.

As I said above, the Archie-verse, in the comics, is wholesome.  Even Sabrina, in the comics, though she's a witch, never deals with the evil side which is part and parcel of witchcraft in lore, legend and culture.  I knew this Netflix-produced show would be able to break through and incorporate some traditional horror.  I just didn't know how deeply they'd wade into that material.

They don't wade.  They dive!

The Witch Coven of Greendale serve the Dark Lord, but they don't just leave him with that name which has also meant Voldemort and other fictional enemies.  No.  They name him: Satan.  Well, OK, then.  This show is going to just flat out jump into Judeo Christian mythology.  (The real world Church of Satan is already angry at the show.  Google it if you want to find out why.  At this point, I don't know, nor do I care.  At this point.  Maybe in the future.)

OK, so bringing Satan into the mythology is going well past wholesome.  Would that stop me from watching the show?  No.  So, what else made me pause?

The overt grotesqueries involved in the witch world.  Like what?  Well, see, on her birthday, Sabrina is going to participate in a ceremony.  Auntie Zelda matter-of-factly states that blood is needed for the Dark Baptism, and human blood is best, so isn't it a good thing a fresh body has come in to their mortuary just a couple days ahead of time?  Yuck!  I've only mentioned this one thing, but there are many, many more.  And they almost made me stop watching after Episode 1.

Sabrina is played by actress Kiernan Shipka.  I've never seen her before, but she is very pretty, very young-looking (playing 16 at age 18, I think) and plays Sabrina as a kind, sweet girl (most of the time.) Yet she also seems completely accustomed to the unique environment in which she is being raised.  And she shows glimpses of being a bit more than your typical wholesome heroine, even in Episode 1.  So I gave the show a break, but I came back.

As I said, I almost gave up on the show more than once.  Another aspect which pushed me towards dropping the show was the gore.  Some horror productions imply gore, some have bits of gore, and some embrace it.  At the beginning, I thought this series was going to imply it, then it moved to bits, and by the third episode or so, it was embracing gore.  Here's this sweet, pretty teen-aged heroine, and she's in scenes with guts and ... well, gore.  So, if you cannot handle gore, you will not get through this show.  I'm sure WB (the network home of "Riverdale") decided to create this on Netflix rather than on their network for many reasons, and the gore was certainly among them.

So if I'm so disturbed by those aspects of "Sabrina" why am I still going on?

Episode 5, and "Sleepy Hollow."  Let me deal with those in reverse order.

A few years back, there was a network TV show called "Sleepy Hollow."  Very few people I know watched the show, but I really liked it.  It was a "horror" show loosely based on the mythology of the Washington Irving story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," mixed with the concept that the supernatural world was very much a part of the world during the American Revolution.  Ichabod Crane (the "protagonist" of Irving's story) pulled a Rip Van Winkle -- slept for a couple hundred years, and woke up in modern day New England, where he ended up partnering with a very capabile police detective, and soon they were fighting supernatural evil in and around Sleepy Hollow in the 21st century.

Being a network (Fox) TV show, it could not go very far in its gore, sex, religiosity and so on, but each week the story arcs advanced, and each week history and the supernatural were cleverly blended to build a mythos and give our heroes quests and enemies.  It was great fun.  I don't know where you can stream it, but if it sounds fun to you, I bet it will be.

Anyway, the first season of "Sleepy Hollow" dealt, primarily, with a story arc which arose from the premise of the show: Ichabod Crane had faced the Headless Horseman during the Revolutionary War, and now the Horseman was back.  But, the show also found a way to tell tangential horror stories.  These stories were primarily one-off episodes.  You could watch them without having seen the full story so far and enjoy them for their clever ideas.  Want a story about a Banshee?  A Will-o-the-Wisp?  There you go - you have one.  Now, for the series faithful, the one-off episodes would drop in a bit of information to advance the big story plot, but these single story episodes were well done.

That's Episode 5 of Sabrina.   If you have reached the end of Episode 4, as I had, and you think "I'm not sure I can go on" try episode 5.

It's still gory.  You have to accept that.  And by this point in the series, "wholesome" is out the window (except, not really -- it's still there, as long as you can separate the heroic from the Satanic.) But the story -- the story -- is great fun.

Anyway, I'm going to keep watching this series through the end of its first 10-episode season.  I'm not exactly sure what they are trying to accomplish in this first main story, but it certainly has something to do with our hero growing up a bit and dealing with the consequences of sticking to her principles -- a common theme, to be sure, told in an uncommon way.

This show is not for everyone.  But for now, I think it's for me.

Addendum: I figured out one more thing that bothers me about this show.  Auntie Zelda (and a couple other characters) are as pious in their Satanism as the most stereotypical Evangelicals are pious in their Christianity.  It bothers me to hear "Praise Satan" every time something happens that Zelda likes, just as it would bother me to hear "Praise God" if the character were Christian.  I wonder if that's one of the points the writers are making?

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This post is part of The List.

Shows I've Watched - Anchor List

This is the list of "TV" shows I want to talk about in the blog, and remember for the future.  Need more explanation?  See the Explanatory Post.

The List

• The OA (Netflix) - the show I realized I was forgetting about when talking about great shows I had seen.
• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix)
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime)
• Sense8 (Netflix) 
• Jessica Jones (Netflix)
• The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)
• Godless (Netflix)
• Stranger Things (Netflix)
• Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
• Longmire (now Netflix)
• Game of Thrones (HBO)
• The Crown (Netflix)
• Downton Abbey (BBC/PBS available on Amazon Prime)
• Altered Carbon (Netflix)
• Breaking Bad (AMC available on Netflix)
• House of Cards (Netflix)
• Salvation (CBS available on Amazon Prime)
• Penny Dreadful (Showtime available on Netflix)
• Mr. Robot (Amazon Prime)
• Black Mirror (Netflix)
• This Is Us (NBC) - because way too many people don't watch "network TV" anymore, and they are going to be sorry they are missing this!

That's The List as of now.  I am quite confident I have forgotten at least one show that should be on The List.  I am also certain I will watch shows in the future which should get added to The List.  I hope to remember to do that.  But for now, The List is full enough I can start writing "Reviews" of them.  When a Review is written, I plan to come back to this post and put the link to the Review post.

One more thing: I KNOW that there are some shows which would belong on The List if YOU wrote it.  Many people have seen "13 Reasons Why" and "The Man in the High Castle" and "Making A Murderer" but I have not.  So those shows are not on my list.  The only shows on The List which I have not watched fairly completely (so far) are Game of Thrones and Mr. Robot.  GoT is a special case. Mr. Robot is a show I had forgotten I needed to get back to watching until I started putting The List together!

So, you are welcome to comment on this post and recommend something I should see.  If I HAVE seen it, I will be grateful for the reminder.  If I have NOT seen it, well, maybe I'll start another List Of Shows I Should Try Sometime.

Anchor Post Exposition - Shows I've Watched in this Golden Age

 I'm not the first to say it, but I certainly believe it -- we are in a "Golden Age" for what are typically called "TV" shows.

There are so many outlets for "TV" shows these days, and so many of those outlets are investing heavily in creating their own new content, that the number of shows is almost unbelievable, if you are old enough to remember a time before HBO started creating its own content -- outside the boundaries of the "Big 3 (or 4 or 5 if you counted Fox and whatever other then-lesser networks were around -- UPN, I'm talking about you) plus PBS."

But I did not start this post to talk about the past.  Everyone who enjoys watching "TV" these days knows that some (most?) of the very best television is created outside the broadcast networks.  With streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and the like competing with networks and the film industry for our leisure time, many stories are being told which never could have, under the old Network options.

So, like most of you, I have watched some of them.  We can't, any of us, watch them all.  But I've watched quite a few.  On this most recent business trip, it occurred to me that I was beginning to forget that I had even watched some of them.  I don't want to forget!  So, what should I do?

When I first started this blog, one of the staples topics was Micro-Reviews.  I wrote micro-reviews primarily for the purpose of remembering.  If I wrote a micro-review, I was more likely to remember more about the film than if I did not.  And yes, I enjoyed knowing that a few other people would read my reviews and might enjoy them.  But the instigating goal was helping me remember.

So, since I am now starting to "forget" the shows I've watched, I decided I may as well take some time, while on a trip, to record my thoughts about various series I have seen.

This entry will be the Anchor.  As I write this post the first time, I will list the "shows" I'm talking about, and then over time I hope to write "reviews" about them.

And, because I think most people who will read this in the future (including myself) will not want to scroll down through this overly long introduction to get to my list, I will create a post which is the Shows I've Watched - Anchor List.

If you've read this far, thanks.  I hope the list and the reviews I plan to write are worth your time.  But if you find they are not, just remember -- you don't have to read them!  We each only have so much leisure time in our lives, and if reading my blog is not worth your time, go find something else to do!  There are many options.  Like the shows in my list, for example!

Review - Good Omens - Pratchett and Gaiman

Title: Good Omens
Authors: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

There are certain books which must be read.

Well, of course, all books must be read.  That is, if you are going to get the contents of the book into your head, reading must be done.  But that's not what I mean.

What I mean is, if you are a fan of a certain genre of book, there is a set of books which forms the "working vocabulary" of that genre's fans, and there is an expectation among those fans that other fans will have read those books.

For instance, if you say you are a fan of epic fantasy, then surely you have read Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings.

And if you are a fan of hard science fiction -- at least if you grew up in the sixties and seventies -- you will have read most if not all of the core Asimov books - the Foundation Trilogy and at least I, Robot, as well as probably Herbert's Dune.

And, when it comes to comic sci-fi (yes, that's a subgenre, and yes, "comic" means "funny" in this instance) everyone expects you will have read Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Well, shoot, I've read all those.  What I had not realized is that there is another book which needs to be included on the list with Hitchhiker's is Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.

Neil Gaiman is an amazingly prolific writer (not Stephen King prolific, I suppose, but close) who has a well-deserved following; much of what he writes is spooky, but not all of it, and no matter what he writes, it's well received.  He's a Big Deal. [1]  Terry Pratchett is revered as the prolific counterpart to Adams in comic sci-fi (who was not all that prolific, when it comes right down to it) and is also a Big Deal. [2]

Well, before they were Big Deals, these two creative geniuses got together and wrote a book.   Apparently, this book is now a :cult classic."  Why I had never heard of it before I happened to pick it up and said "I've always meant to read some Pratchett, and here he is with Gaiman, who is spooky, but clever, so I should buy this," I'll never know.  I think the reason has to do with the "cult."  I'm not much of a "cult" guy.  Meet me, and you don't think "cult."  It might be about the last thing you think when you meet me.  So, apparently, those cultists who worship Good Omens: ... just never mentioned it to me.

So here I am, in my advancing years, picking up this book a good 25 years after it was first published.

And enjoying the Hell out of it!  (You think I just swore, don't you?  And if you know me, you're thinking "Steve!  You don't swear!  What's going on?  Is it that 'cult?'  Do we need an intervention?")

The story in Good Omens: ... presupposes that Heaven and Hell have been at war since Creation, which really was only just over 6000 years ago, and that, as predicted by many a churchman over the years, as well as one extremely prescient witch (the Agnes Nutter mentioned in the full title,) the whole thing is going to come to a head in the years after the Anti-Christ is born.

The novel introduces us to a whole cast of Dramatis Personae who are involved in the End Times, including a pair of buddies from opposite sides of the Ultimate Battle - an angel named Aziraphale and a demon named Crowley.  They've each been doing their appointed Thing for their Side for six thousand years, but they also have formed a bit of a relationship.  Sound funny?  It is funny!  Britishly funny, though.  Dry, clever, understated, even when very overstated things are happening.  And yet, it has the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, depicted as never before.  And while they, themselves, are in no way funny, the way they are brought into the present [3] is spot on!

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  It's so funny.  It's thought-provoking in the nicest possible way.   It almost treats the whole Heaven/Hell/Good/Evil thing respectfully, but not completely.  And yet, it's never offensive. [4]  It's fun! 

I think Christians who have read Lewis's The Screwtape Letters really ought to read this, too.  And I think non-Christians who think they have a handle on how this whole God/Devil/Heaven/Hell thing can't be real, and doesn't have anything to say to my life really ought to read this.  It will not convert you.  I promise.  But maybe, just maybe, whichever you are, you will learn what "ineffable" means, and you will laugh while you learn it. [5]

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[1] And he's fun to follow on Twitter.  Seriously.  (Well, he's not serious very much of the time, but then sometimes he is, and he's always interesting.)  And he lives in Minnesota.  Which is unusual for an Englishman.
[2] Sadly, Pratchett died in March 2015, but his impact on sci-fi ensures he remains a Big Deal, and will be so for as long as people are reading the subgenre, which is likely to be a very long time, indeed.
[3] Well, not the present of 2015 -- the present of 1990.  It works.  It really works.
[4] OK, it wasn't offensive to me.  I realize that I offend much less easily than some people.  So, if you are easily offended, especially where it comes to religion, be warned.  It might offend you.  But if it does, just remember a couple of things:  it's fiction and it's satire, of a sort.
[5] And that might have sounded like I was swearing, too.  But I was not.  Ineffable.  It's a word.  Look it up.  And then read this book.

Review - Hydrogen Sonata - Iain M Banks

Title: The Hydrogen Sonata
Author: Iain M. Banks

I picked this book up when I was in Dragonfly Books, in Decorah, Iowa, because it's an independent bookstore owned by a classmate of mine, and I can't think of three better reasons to buy a book.

You did count to three, right?  1) Independent Bookstore.  2) Classmate.  3) I was in a book store.

OK, now that we have the justification for the purchase settled, I suppose I should review this thing.

Hah!  That would be something!  How in the world to summarize the plot of this story, so I can tell you a bit about it?  Hmmmm....

In the far, far future, the many civilizations in the universe have discovered that there is something outside our normal four dimensions.  That "something" is called the Sublime.  When a race reaches a point where there doesn't seem to be any more it can do in Reality (three dimensions plus time) the race can decide to go, en mass, into the Sublime.  Individual biological beings can't seem to do it themselves, so whole races need to go, at once.  (Spaceships, which are AIs of significant substance, can sometimes do it -- and some have.)

Well, early on in The Hydrogen Sonata, we find that a race is very close to their Subliming day, but something strange happens, and this strange thing might threaten that Very Significant Event.  Several characters get involved in the intrigue, and as they do, we are presented with an amazing future where science has allowed for enhancements to people which I would never have imagined.

The story starts out confusing, as author Iain M Banks plops us down into many threads, as if we were already familiar with his concepts, but then slowly ties the threads together, while teaching us his world. The resulting exposition is fascinating, as subsequent chapters make you reevaluate what you thought you knew from the preceding ones.  

The story is complex, and at times both amusing and thrilling.  In the end, though, I am not sure the story is what I'll be left remembering.  Because -- and don't let this scare you -- ultimately I think it's the philosophy of the book which left the deepest impression on me.   I can't really describe it without spoiling some of the story, so I won't try. 

It's been a long, long time since I read a book and wished it had been part of a college class or book club, so that I would have the chance to discuss the book with others who had just read it.  This is that kind of book.

So, it's sci-fi.  If you can't handle that, stay away.  But if you can, and you like a novel that makes you think, and challenges your sense of propriety at times, this is a good read.  I want to read more of Banks's books now.

Review - Captain's Fury - Jim Butcher

Title: Captain's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher

While I said, in the review of the third book in the "Codex Alera" series, that it was the best of the lot so far, you should in no way take that to mean that this, the fourth book, is to be ignored.  Oh, no.  Keep reading.  This is still plenty good!

Book four gives Amara a very difficult task, and Butcher's writing keeps you hanging on every part of her journey.  And she's not even the key figure in the story!

Again, that position belongs to Tavi, who is now in charge of a Legion of soldiers.  While he has been successful, others are jealous, and they intend to use their positions and their Furyborn power to take what they can.  Meanwhile, as always, Tavi has seen the next threat to the Empire, and must seek to neutralize it.

By the time you read book four, you will have seen the heroes make tactical alliances with "bad guys" already, and this theme continues.  And, by this time, you will probably be impressed with the ways the author can find of putting his heroes in seemingly hopeless situations, only to have them emerge, if not victories, at least alive, if somewhat damaged.

The only "negative" I can write about this book is that the ending did not drive me to pick up the next book immediately.  Books two and three almost demanded me to start the next story -- not because the story was incomplete, but because I simply had to see what would happen next.  I have not yet read book five simply because Butcher "let me off the hook" with the end of this novel.  Oh, I'll go back.  I have to.  At this point, it seems to me that Butcher has a plan, and there might actually be an ending to this books-long story.  I want to see what that end is.  I think you will, too.

Review - Cursor's Fury - Jim Butcher

Title: Cursor's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher


Book 3 of the "Codex Alera" by Jim Butcher finds our hero, Tavi, grown into a young man who has been given a very special job -- that of Cursor.

We encountered the concept of a Cursor back in book one, and learned more in book two, and it's pretty clear by this point that a Cursor is a "secret agent" of sorts.  This allows for a very interesting story, as Tavi takes on a secret identity in order to carry out his mission.

Now, much as in the first book and the second, while the main storyline centers on Tavi, the other major characters we've followed continue to have their own parts to play.  Amara, in particular, takes on a very key role in this book, and her relationships become very critical to the story.  I truly appreciate the skill Butcher has in creating multiple threads, keeping the reader learning new things,  while hiding information from the characters.

At the same time, while the characters and the intrigue are impressive, the attention to war craft -- the Aleran armies are very similar to ancient Roman armies in their techniques and structure -- sets this series apart from many other fantasy stories I've read.

By this point, the series is really rolling, and I have become quite involved with the characters, and pleased by the writing.  I'll continue.  If you read books one and two, you should, also.  This book is excellent.  I've read the first four by now, and I think this might be the best of the lot so far.

Review - Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher

Title: Academ's Fury
Author: Jim Butcher

This is Book 2 in Jim Butcher's "Codex Alera" -- a series begun with Furies of Calderon.  (I suggest you read the first two paragraphs of my review of that book to get the fantasy context.)

Most of the primary characters from book 1 return for this installment, and in particular, the young boy, Tavi, begins to take center stage.  Tavi has been brought to the school in the capital of the Aleran realm, and is being taught in the same manner as the rest of the Aleran children, but because he has no Furycrafting, and most of the students are relatively highborn and thus have Furies of their own, he struggles.

Still, he has made some friends, and he has a special work assignment as a messenger for the First Lord, so while his life is busy, it is interesting.

Before we get very deep into the novel, it becomes even more dangerous than it is interesting, and Tavi is forced to improvise as he helps implement a political cover-up, while also attempting to solve a mystery, as a strange attack on the empire seems to appear out of nowhere.

This installment is even more intriguing than the first, as Butcher continues to fill out his world with new characters, and with a deeper understanding of the nature of Fury-based power/magic.  Do not read this book until you have read the first, but if you liked the first, you will definitely enjoy the second.

Review - Skin Game - Jim Butcher - Dresden Files

Title: Skin Game
Author: Jim Butcher

Would you be surprised if I told you I didn't like a "Dresden Files" novel?

Well, you should be!  Because it ain't happening!  If someone tells you that, they are pulling your leg.  It just hasn't happened.  And it didn't with Skin Game, Jim Butcher's latest.

In fact, just the opposite.

Listen, have you ever been reading a novel and suddenly you find yourself wanting to cheer?  I mean, really, opening up your mouth, pumping your first, and yelling "YES!"

I happened to me in Skin Game.

Four times!

I know a friend who, well, let me quote him "finds Dresden's constant self-flagellation a little tiring."

Jon, I know what you mean.  I really do.  But as I said in my comment back, every hero needs to have a flaw or two, and Harry Dresden beats himself up over bad things that happen.  I can assure you, he grows as the novels progress, but I also can tell you he slips back into the pattern sometimes.

And in this novel?  Man!  Well, there's this scene between Harry and an old friend.  And his friends, be assured, have noticed the same thing.  And this particular friend is just not going to let Harry get away with it.  Anyway, I hope I haven't already said too much.  Cheer number one is not related to magic, or action -- it's related to friendship and personal growth and Butcher being aware of how readers might react to the flaws which make Harry who he is.  It's priceless.

Anyway, like every Dresden novel, bad things will happen unless Harry faces an impossible situation and finds a way out of it.  What makes this novel a particularly interesting episode is that it's essentially a "caper" in which Harry has to become part of a team to pull off a heist.  That's not even close to the best part of the impossible mission, but I will not spoil this for you.

I had to buy this book on my Nook so I could carry it easily on my extensive travels this fall.  I'm certainly glad I did.  But despite the fact that I have borrowed every book in the series to this point, and that I own an electronic copy of this installment, I am soon going to have to buy (or receive as gifts) every Dresden Files novel -- so that I can loan them out.  Really.  These are good.  They are fast reads, and they have a life of their own.  I can't wait for the next one.

But I have to!

Review - Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher

Title: Furies of Calderon
Author: Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher, author of the highly imaginative "Dresden Files" books, has created a fantasy world with a novel system of magic.  In this world, all humans have some level of magical ability -- well, all but one human, a teenage boy named Tavi.  People, in their adolescent years, find a fury (or more than one) which is an elemental being which binds itself to the person for life, and responds to the person's wishes by allowing the person to perform actions according to the ability of the fury.  For example, an air fury can help a person by controlling air and wind, even to the point that the strongest Air Furycrafters can fly.

Now, many people don't have much power with their fury, but everyone has some -- except, as I said, for Tavi.  And so, of course, as fantasy hero stories go, Tavi is our hero.

But as Butcher tells the story, Tavi is only one of several major characters.  We get to know some of the villains from their viewpoint, and we get to know several other heroes, as the world of the humans comes in conflict with the neighboring civilization, the Marat, who, while human-like in some respects, are definitely not human, and who have a history of war with the people of the human empire.

Yet, as with many empires, there are people who want power for themselves, and they prove to be as dangerous as any outside force.

Like the Dresden novels, the pace of Furies of Calderon is fast.  Our "good guys" (once we figure out who they are) do not have time to stop and plan, let alone get any rest.  Danger and death are a part of the story, even in a land where Water Furycrafters can perform amazing healing magic.

As the first story in what is clearly meant to be an epic, this is a good start.  The characters involved are fleshed out.  There are clearly secrets to be unraveled over time, and only a spare few of them are revealed in this first book.  Yet we don't feel cheated, because the world is well designed, the story is entertaining, and the narration pulls us in.

I like it.  I'm going to keep going.

Review - My Family and Other Hazards - June Melby

Title: My Family and Other Hazards
Author: June Melby

There are so many ways to start this review.  But there's only one way to end it, so I'll start there:

[End of Review]

Whether you know June Melby or not, you will feel as if you do, by the time you finish My Family and Other Hazards, her memoir describing the summers her family spent running a mini-golf course.  Whether you're willing to admit that your attitudes towards your parents and their mores might have been immature and needed reexamination as you grew up, you will see that June is more than willing to express herself as she admits it, and you find yourself doing that reexamination alongside her as she shares her lifelong process of revelation and appreciation.  This book is filled with stories, humor, appreciation, and ultimately a familial love that you will either recognize or long for -- or perhaps both.

---

And now, let me start the review.

I met June Melby, the author of My Family and Other Hazards, when she was an underclassman in High School, and I was an upperclassman.  We were both interested in drama, so we became cast members and mime troupe cohorts (yes, I was a mime for a while -- yet another thing most of you never knew about me.)  Ultimately, she joined our Dungeons and Dragons group, in which I was either the leader of the party, or the Dungeon Master.  And, importantly, she was the daughter of my high school Chemistry and Physics teacher -- which mattered to me almost none at all, because being the child of a teacher, myself, I knew that children are not their parents, and they don't go tattling to their parents/teacher about every little strangeness their friends/students might have.

Yet, once June left Decorah for college, we rarely saw one another, and until she started performing in Los Angeles and started her own blog (long before anyone was trying to make a living blogging, or, truthfully, before people called it "blogging") I had very little idea what she was up to.

I say all this as a preface, because I want you to understand that when I read June's memoir, I already knew that she spent her summers at a Tom Thumb mini-golf course.  I knew, because, from a friend's viewpoint, it was quite inconvenient.  It took June away from us for the crucial months when the group of us could gather regularly for gaming or movies or just walking around our hometown laughing too loudly, concocting inane ideas which seemed to matter so much, but which ultimately became inside jokes, and in general, just being a group of teenagers.  And June was not able to be part of those summers.  Instead, she was with her family, at the Tom Thumb, somewhere in the wilds of Wisconsin.

Little did I understand what was happening at the Tom Thumb.  Now I know:  It was forming the basis for the very interesting life story of a very funny, very engaging, very personal author.

And I really don't think I'm saying this just because I know June.  Because when I read the book, very little of what was written were stories I had heard from her.  I think that's because -- and it's clear as you read the book -- while she certainly remembers the stories of her teenage years, and she remembers how she felt and reacted as a teenager -- she didn't realize at the time how much those years with her family were affecting her.  In particular, it's clear that the adult June knows that the teenage June didn't understand or appreciate the role her parents were taking in shaping her, even as she rebelled against (in her subdued Midwest way) and questioned so many of their ways.

As she tells the stories, you can imagine sitting in a coffee shop with her, listening to the narrative of her experiences, and being drawn along as she learns more about life, love, and her parents.  And you can imagine enjoying every minute.

And now -- get ready branch to the ending and read it again.  My long-time friend, with whom I lost touch a bit over the years,  but who now lives back in our hometown, has written a book.  She spent her summers doing something most of us cannot imagine, and she wrote a very well-crafted book telling the story of how running a mini-golf course with her family affected her life.  If this description makes the book sound like something you would enjoy, you're right.  If it does not, well, sorry, you're wrong.  You will be pleasantly surprised.

Now - GOTO [End of Review]

Movie Micro-Reviews: Edition 110

Just "new to me" movies this time. Also trying to get back to smaller reviews.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	70	Decent “origin” story. Not among the best Jack Ryan tales.
Grand Budapest Hotel (The)	68	Quirky, as expected from Wes Anderson. Worked for me.
Despicable Me 2	65	Funny again.  Less innovative than the first time.
Land Ho	55	Independent “buddy” film with retirement age buddies.  I liked it.  You might not.
American Hustle	64	The memorable cast played with commitment. Doubt I’d see it a second time.
Jersey Boys	60	Pros and cons compared to the stage version, but good music.  Not something I’d watch over and over, though.

Review - Cold Days - Dresden Files - Jim Butcher

Title: Cold Days
Author: Jim Butcher

Do you know why a good book series is so captivating?  Read Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books from the beginning, and you'll find out.

Start with Storm Front, and before too long, you will be caught.[1]   You will want to read the next book, as soon as you can.  You will get lost in the stories.  You will get frightened, you will laugh, you will cry, you will be upset by the things that happen to the characters you get to know, you will be amazed, amused and impressed.  You will never be disappointed, and you will never want to stop.

And why?  Why does this happen?

Because Jim Butcher creates characters who have life.  Certainly, Harry Dresden soon becomes a person you feel you know, as you follow his story through his own words throughout the novels.  But it doesn't even come close to stopping there.  Like all people with a life, Harry has people in that life.  And those people, necessarily appear in Harry's story because, just like your best friends are there for you when you need them, Harry's friends are, for him.  And, just like your friends, Harry's friends have lives of their own.   Your friends grow and change and do great stuff and stupid stuff and it affects them, and by affecting them it affects you.  And the same happens with Harry and his friends.

Look, from a fantastic fiction viewpoint, Jim Butcher has created a mythos which is remarkable.  His world of magic and horror, sitting believably right within our normal world, fits together so well, you'd think he was around back when all these myths about vampires and faerie were created -- or rather, when we normal mortals first encountered them and decided they must be myths.  Seriously, the skill and imagination it took to work holy swords and Norse gods and Native American monsters into one mystical whole -- it's amazing.

But that's not what makes you want the next book so badly.

It's these characters, and the changes they undergo.  It's how they handle the trials put before them; how they are damaged; how they persevere.  It's seeing changes happen, and knowing that the characters can never go back to the way they were in the "good old days" of previous books, because, after all, change happens and we just have to move on.

In Cold Days, Harry Dresden undergoes more change.  It's a given.  It happens in every novel. People change as life moves on.  It happens.  We're never exactly the same people we once were, because life happens, and we change.  And in Harry's case, while we can't imagine the change before we start reading, it makes perfect sense as the story unfolds.  And at the same time, as Harry's latest, most critical adventure takes place, the people and beings around him are also changed - forever.

I have told you basically nothing about the plot of this book.  That's intentional.  If you haven't read any Dresden books, very little I said would mean much.  And if you have read them, but haven't reached this point yet, I am not about to spoil things for you.

What I'm saying is if you haven't read them yet, but you like great characters and an author who knows how to handle them, and if you can stomach some horror, you should get a copy of the first novel and start reading.

And if you've started reading the Dresden Files but haven't gotten to Cold Days yet, well, wow.  I envy you!  Keep reading!  It's so worth it!

===================

[1] I bet, by the time you make it through Summer Knight (book four) you will realize you are into something special.   It happened for me with book three, Grave Peril.

Movie Micro-Reviews: Edition 109 - Amazing Spiderman 2; Heaven Is For Real; Book of Eli

A few older movies, and a couple of new ones.

Book of Eli (The)	91	This is what a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story should be like!  OK, there are a couple of kinds of endings such a story can have, and they chose one which was very satisfying.  Denzel Washington was exceptional. Gary Oldman was frightening. Don’t let someone spoil this movie for you.  See it for yourself – if you can handle the violence. P.S. Mila Kunis is not “Jackie” – and by her last scene could be a young Angelina Jolie.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes	70	I really liked the first half of this story, partially because John Lithgow improves anything he’s in.  And I was totally taken with the animated apes.  Somehow, this just didn’t make me say “it’s good enough to own.”  But worth seeing, sure.  [And we do own it, now.]
Divergent	71	Sci-fi allows us to examine aspects of humanity very directly. Here: classes and labels. Broadly done, visually interesting, with a few well-considered surprises.
Heaven is for Real	60	This was a lot less preachy, and a lot more like just telling a story than I expected.  The child actor played his role very well, Kinnear and Riley were quite believable.
Amazing Spiderman 2	66	I liked the new take on Electro, and the introduction of Harry Osborne Jr.  But the movie almost felt like a transitional story, but I don’t know if they will continue.
Noah	64	If you’re going to retell a well-known story, decide what points you’re trying to make. Some enjoyable additions (e.g. the Watchers). The effects were great. The acting was good. But if the directors had an ultimate point to make, it got muddled.