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Rather boring and tedious.

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 18 March 2007 11:15 (A review of Ancient Echoes)

Ancient Echoes tells the story of Jack Chatwin, an Englishman from Exburgh.

Jack has been having strange recurring dream-like visions, during which his body shimmers, since his teens, a phenomenon that fascinates his friend Angela. They later marry and have a daughter, Nathalie.

In his visions, Jack dreams of a parallel world where two hunters, a woman and a man, are running from a deathly danger. When these ask Jack for help, Greyface threatening to harm Nathalie, Jack decides to enter a computer-monitored trance, under the supervison of Angela and her ex boy-friend Steve.

Although Ancient Echoes isn't part of the series, it is nonetheless very similar in style and theme to the latest Mythago books. That is, except for a couple of passages in the middle, where Jack spends time with a prehistoric tribe and gets to meet one or two interesting characters, rather boring and tedious as a whole.

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Rather boring and tedious.

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 15 February 2007 08:20 (A review of Ancient Echoes)

Ancient Echoes tells the story of Jack Chatwin, an Englishman from Exburgh.

Jack has been having strange recurring dream-like visions, during which his body shimmers, since his teens, a phenomenon that fascinates his friend Angela. They later marry and have a daughter, Nathalie.

In his visions, Jack dreams of a parallel world where two hunters, a woman and a man, are running from a deathly danger. When these ask Jack for help, Greyface threatening to harm Nathalie, Jack decides to enter a computer-monitored trance, under the supervison of Angela and her ex boy-friend Steve.

Although Ancient Echoes isn't part of the series, it is nonetheless very similar in style and theme to the latest Mythago books. That is, except for a couple of passages in the middle, where Jack spends time with a prehistoric tribe and gets to meet one or two interesting characters, rather boring and tedious as a whole.

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Great world building, but disappointing

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 7 December 2006 12:50 (A review of The Bone Forest)

The Bone Forest is a collection of eight short stories by Robert Holdstock, the first and eponymous one of which is a Mythago Wood narrative from the point of view of George Huxley, about how he came to involve his sons Steven and Christian.

The six next (Thorn, The Shapechanger, The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids, Time of the Tree, Magic Man, and Scarrowfell), although not sharing the same settings, are very similar in style and atmosphere.

The last one (The Time Beyond Age) tells of a scientific experiment where two children are artificially grown old in a disease-proof environment.

As a whole, I like the way Robert Holdstock builds enchanting worlds for us to explore, but I'm always disappointed by the abrupt, sometimes far-fetched endings.

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A diversity of interesting characters.

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 7 December 2006 12:50 (A review of Gate of Ivory)

Gate of Ivory goes back in time in the Mythago Wood sequence to tell us the story of Christian Huxley.

Steven's brother, who has never recovered from his mother's suicide after an terrible attack by a band of Mythago warriors when he was only a small boy, is now a grown man and goes exploring into the Wood. There he joins the Long Person, a makeshift group of forgotten figures from past legends, among which Guiwenneth, with whom he'll deeply fall in love. After living with them for a while, he learns that they're here to help the warrior Kylhuk's Legion in his quests, and soon Christian discovers he has a role to play too.

What I enjoyed in this fifth volume is the diversity of interesting characters and their stories. It was also great to read Christian's side of the story. Indeed in this tome he appears as a much less barbaric and more humane person than in the first one.

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There and not quite back again...

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:05 (A review of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)

The Return of the King is the third and last part of Peter Jackson's trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's epic fantasy masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings.

Saruman the traitor has just been defeated, both in Isengard and Helm's Deep, and so Gandalf and Pippin ride towards Gondor and its capital Minas Tirith, to offer the Riders of Rohan's help to Denethor. But after the death of his beloved son Boromir, which he blames Faramir for, the stewart of the White City has lost all hope of surviving the war against the armies of Sauron, and is now teetering on the brink of insanity. Out of pride, he refuses to call for help. Taking advantage of his smaller size to pass undetected, Pippin lights the beacons all the same, signalling the Rohirrim, led by King Théoden, to start their march East. Among them are Merry and Éowyn, eager to fight alongside her kin in the battle on which depends the fate of all mankind, and Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn, still in doubt about his destiny and heirloom as king of Gondor.

Meanwhile, Gollum is leading Frodo and Sam further into the dark land of Mordor, up treacherous, vertiginous stairs and through tunnels filled with dangers, Frodo's mind slowly giving in to the power of the Ring he has to destroy.

I'm finding it very hard to concentrate on my job today, I keep staring at the void, my head filled to the brim with images of the film. What a blast! The actors, and the Hobbits in particular, are amazing, the sets, costumes and visual effects are stunning, the music is riveting! Want to know more? Well, I wouldn't want to spoil it, so just go watch it!

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Epic!

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:05 (A review of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

The Two Towers is the second part of Peter Jackson's trilogy based on JRR Tolkien's epic fantasy masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings.

The Fellowship of the Ring has just been broken and our heroes are now all heading in different directions, all following their own paths. Merry and Pippin have just been captured by a horde of Saruman's foul Huruk-Haï who, following the sorcerer's orders, are taking them to his tower of Isengard, and Aragorn the Heir of Gondor, Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf are running to their rescue across the plains of Rohan, land of the Rohirim horsemasters. Taking the advantage of a clash between the orcs and a band of Rohirim, the hobbits manage to escape into Fangorn, the old forest, home of the legendary Ents. There they'll meet an old acquaintance.

Meanwhile Frodo, the Ring-bearer, and his friend Sam are on their way to Mordor. It won't be long until they become lost, nor before they realize they're not alone. Gollum, the filthy creature who once possessed the One Ring, has been following them all along. They capture him, but soon Frodon takes pity and decides to release him in exchange for Gollum's word that he'll guide them to Mordor.

Once again, Peter Jackson managed to bring to screen the enchanting spirit of JRR Tolkien's complex novels. I personally liked Gollum's character a lot, as well as admired the creature's beautiful computer graphics animation. And the Battle of Helm's Deep, the terrible final conflagration between Théoden's people and Saruman's army of ten thousand orcs, is just as formidable. I'll have to read these books again!

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Not disappointing in any way!

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:05 (A review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first part of Peter Jackson's trilogy based on the Lord of the Rings, THE classic epic novel by JRR Tolkien, considered father of the fantasy genre.

The film tells the story of Frodo Baggins, a young hobbit, or half-sized human with hairy feet, who lives in the Shire, in Middle-Earth. Frodo's uncle Bilbo, on his one-hundred-and-eleventh birthday, leaves everything to his nephew, among which a ring that has the power to make its bearer invisible. The ring turns out to be The One Ring of Power, forged by the evil Lord Sauron. The mythological and historical background is well summarized at the beginning of the film, and we learn that Sauron was defeated long ago and the ring somewhat lost and found several times before falling into Bilbo's hands. However at the same time, in the land of Mordor, Sauron is stirring again and wants his Ring, source of the power he needs to dominate all the people of Middle-Earth. And so he sends forth nine Nazgûl, to find the Ring. Frodo has but one solution: he has to destroy the ring by casting it into the very fire in which it was forged, in Mount Doom. He sets off with some companions, on a perilous quest to the heart of Mordor.

It must have been hard to squeeze over one thousand pages into three three-hour-long films, but I think Peter Jackson managed to cut at the right places, and since I have read the books, I was able to fill in. Even though it might sometimes be a little bit confusing to people who are new to the story, the fast fighting scenes, the terrifying Nazgûl and evil orcs that contrast with the stunning, breathtaking beauty of the scenery and the great special effects, all this backed up by a wonderful cast, make the Fellowship of the Ring definitely worth seeing by anyone. Personally, I most enjoyed the visual rendering of Sauron's blurry dark world Frodo falls into when he puts on the ring.

These must have been among the most awaited films in history, and even though no film will ever be as majestic and magical as a masterpiece of such scope, I think Peter Jackson really managed to capture its enchanting, wonderful spirit and to pay a superb homage to JJR Tolkien's genius. It made me want to read the books again, and I hope it will make everyone want to read them as well.

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Such a letdown.

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:03 (A review of Myst V: End of Ages)

This is almost insulting. I'm outraged.

I've been a fan of the Myst series since Riven, always eager to immerse in the stunning, utterly beautiful sceneries, and there to push switches and pull levers, to tackle the mind-boggling puzzles that would lead me to more dream-like places.

And I was a bit disappointed when Uru came out, with its real-time, third-person interface, because it wasn't exactly was I was expecting, graphically. But then, it was advertised as a side-quest, so I didn't mind too much, especially when Myst IV: Revelation came out with its good ol' QuickTime VR and video-overlaid characters.

So when I heard that Myst V: End of Ages was coming out, and that it'd be the last episode, I really expected the series to end with a flourish. Admittedly, I was slightly surprised by the rather short, one-year gap since the previous instalment, but I trustfully put it down to technical progress.

Well I was wrong.

Visually, Myst V: End of Ages is closer to Uru. Again they traded the QuickTime VR for a first-person navigation that allows you to look around as you walk from point to point. As you might deduce, this real-time rendering implies models with a lower polygon count, and lightmaps. What is gained in movement fluidity (which, by the way, is not required to solve puzzles  la Myst) is lost in image quality, putting the whole trademark atmosphere in jeopardy.

Same story for the characters you meet throughout the game, who are now CG with a video mapped on their face. It's ugly. The Motion Capture hasn't been corrected, or not enough, and the characters' feet are either sliding or entering the ground. They also tried to impress us with cloth movements, but with such a low polygon count you can often see it go through the characters' legs. Really, what were they thinking?

As for the puzzles, even though a couple of them were a bit tricky (but mostly because the symbol I drew on the tablet wasn't quite accurate), they were for the most part repetitive and unchallenging. Proof is, I finished the game in one day.

This is such a letdown.

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Bake me live...

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:01 (A review of Make Believe)

I've been a big Weezer fan since the beginning, and looking back upon the Green Album and Maladroit now, I have to admit they were disappointing, when you know the musical depth these guys are capable of.

And therefore their fifth album, Make Believe, was much anticipated, both with a good measure of dread and a little chink of hope...

I'm just back from the shop, listening to it for the second time, and if you could see my face right now, you could tell whether the album is good or not... but well, you can't so I'm going to tell you: I'm beaming!

I'm so glad, even relieved, that the guys are back on track. Rivers's voice (you know, this voice that can make you cry) is back, and although the melodies are great, maybe they don't compare to the Blue Album and Pinkerton in terms of genius, but the songs do have what I was so craving for: emotion, power, and layers (very important, that). You can listen to a song ten times and still discover another a hidden riff at the eleventh.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drown into the music and enjoy...

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Straight to the top shelf with my favour

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 4 October 2006 05:00 (A review of Slowreader)

I discovered Slowreader's "Every Part of Nothing" on a sample CD their label Fueled by Ramen sent me when I ordered a CD of The Stereo. Needless to say I fell in love with it on the spot and did not hesitate one second before ordering the whole album.

As the first one I heard, "Every Part of Nothing", with its moody bass line and ah-ahs, is still among my favourite, and "Politics, Music and Drugs" makes you want to stomp and clap along. But in my opinion, "Anesthetic for the Amputee" surpasses all the others with its tremendous beauty... Repeat Track.

It's hard not to be full of praise for this record. It's got atmosphere. In fact, it is so addictive that if I try to come off it for a couple of days, I then catch myself humming "Politics, Music and Drugs"'s catchy tune while hanging up the laundry or washing the dishes... as the irresistible urge to put it back in the player rises up in me again... Repeat All.

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