- The Future is Tomorrow

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

by hutchm January 20, 2015

written by hutchm

I’m probably going to to go a slightly different path on this review versus my previous film reviews about the Hobbit and not give you a standard walk-through. I mean lets be honest, most people have read the book now anyways and know the story based on where the previous movie ended and what happened at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings (for those that have no clue … here’s a hint – Bilbo lives!) and for those that haven’t there are lots of other sites online that will do this for you. I think in this review (which will still contain *SPOILERS*) I am going to focus more on my opinion and thoughts and while I might at times refer to specific elements of the movie, that won’t be the primary way throughout this guide.

OK, with all that out of the way, lets get down to it shall we?

The Battle of the Five Armies is the 3rd part of Peter Jackson’s rather epic trilogy of the Hobbit. The Hobbit (book) while only a relatively short book (especially in relation to the Lord of the Rings) was targeted more towards a younger audience than its successors and that is evident in the first two films also. There is singing & lots of humor in the earlier films and while there are some darker sequences and scenes the earlier films manage to balance this out. By contrast however the Battle of the Five Armies is much darker in context and scope. It focuses a lot on “lust” – in this case, the lust for gold and how that can drive even the strongest of willed (Thorin Oakenshield) to ruin.

English: Replica of the One ring from The Hobbit and The Lord of the rings trilogy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By the end of the 2nd film – The Desolation of Smaug – there was really only 65 pages remaining to the Hobbit … basically a sequence in which Smaug the dragon sets fire to a town built on a lake; another sequence in which some dwarves, elves and humans bicker over which of them gets to keep the dragon’s gold; and a battle between these bickerers and an orc army. It’s not much material for a two-and-a-half-hour film. So how does Jackson fill the running time?

Well I think its fairly obvious that Peter Jackson also has realized that he won’t be revisiting Middle Earth again (unless of course he is able to do something with the Silmarillion) – he has perhaps gone a bit overboard in this movie as to some extent it almost feels like a travelogue of/for New Zealand while at the same time its very obviously a going away present for himself.

Some key complaints that I had are probably as follows:

Legolas – while I know in my previous post I indicated that his inclusion while not necessary didn’t really detract from the book, in this film it really did. His scenes were pointless really and overly complicated. The fight sequence on the bridge was way too long and the whole sequence with the bat was a bit ridiculous.
Dain the dwarf – Thorin’s cousin was actually really funny & both myself and the children laughed as he knocked the orc’s out right and left … but doing it by headbutting them? That seems to be a bit silly doesn’t it? Is he only hard headed dwarf? If it was that easy, why bother with an axe or hammer?
Thorin’s whole fight sequence too was perhaps overly belabored and could have ended sooner
Bilbo & Smaug – perhaps my biggest complaint about them was that we didn’t really get enough time with them. Smaug specifically appeared only to die in the opening minutes of the film – this should probably have been concluded in the previous film as it simply didn’t have the same impact.

Now lets talk about the positive – this movie was epic. The fight scenes while long were glorious & the CGI is immeasurably better than it was in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While the sequence with Gandalf and Sauron was perhaps also a bit contrived, it showed in no uncertain way, why these wizards and Elf Kings and Queens were paramount in the land. While you would not expect a wizard to be a martial arts expert at the same time, their skill is evident and they have power!

However with that being said could this have been shrunk to two movies and retained its impact? Overall I’d have to say yes. While the fighting was glorious – it was also long and in parts your mind tended to wander. As scary as the villains may be (as ever in the Middle Earth films, beauty is equated with virtue, and ugliness with evil), they’re awfully easy to kill. In one scene, Bilbo throws three stones, one after the other, and each time he hits a towering orc between the eyes, leaving it stone dead. I’ve already mentioned my complaint about Smaug and I think if he’d died in the previous film, it would have definitely had a much greater impact as with a year in between films you lose the awe that he inspired. Legolas as a whole could have probably been cut from this film without it hurting the continuity in any significant way (although I do have to admit the final line where he’s told to seek out a ranger in the west are quite cool).

So why did he do it? Why did he take a small childrens’ book and transform it into this huge 3 film epic? Its probably a question that only Peter Jackson can truly answer, but he has stated that he wanted all of his Middle Earth films to work together in one cohesive whole. This is why he’s transformed a children’s story into a darker and more grim tale … one that works well with the Lord of the Rings. Personally I’m not sure if he was successful and I can see that this might be the first (& only) time that a Director’s cut of a film will actually shrink the length of a film versus increasing it. I know that if he doesn’t do it – someone else will & will also give us the film we all really want to see.

January 20, 2015 2 comments

SciFi

LUCIFER’S HAMMER

by hutchm December 30, 2014

written by hutchm

The End is Nigh!

While there are a plethora of books and movies forecasting the end of the world in a variety of different fashions – anyone seen Independence Day perchance? – the Science in “science fiction” if often lacking and while it would be great to insert a virus into an alien computer core, thereby averting the destruction of humanity, somehow, I just don’t think that it’s going to happen!

Lucifer’s Hammer is the story of the Hamner-Brown comet, discovered by a pair of amateur astronomers (by the way in case you don’t believe that amateur astronomers sometimes discover things like this – check outthis link and this one and for something that happened quite recently this one too!). While still quite a distance out from Earth, it is on a trajectory to pass quite close and although the Scientific community at large are adamant that it will not hit, there is enough doubt that a charismatic and zealous fundamentalist preacher is able to whip up a large amount of hysteria in the US.

Gradually as the comet continues to come closer and closer, the probability of it’s impacting the Earth decreases and even up until the moment of actual impact, there is uncertainty remaining about whether or not it will impact the Earth. Even a joint Apollo-Soyuz mission sent into space to study the comet, now dubbed “The Hammer” by popular media, is unable to confirm or refute its potential collision with earth. The comet does fall, and lands in pieces in various parts of the world with a devastating effect.

Cities disappear overnight and flooding is rampant with Tsunamis hitting all the coastal cities and weeks of nonstop rain destroying all the crops and foodstuffs. Food is at a premium and people are forced to scavenge for survival with Civilization itself falling apart at the seams! However this is actually where the story picks up!

In a similar vein to The Postman (by David Brin) humanity sets back upon the long road to recovery but factors are in play that are determined to reverse this. The battle between the forces of civilization and anarchy has begun and only time will tell who will win.

Personal Thoughts
As mentioned previously there actually is some science in this book and nothing in it is too farfetched at all. It’s a really believable read and while I’d like to hope that humanity as a whole would act better to itself in times of strife and tragedy, unfortunately natural disasters like the Haiti Earthquake show that there are always a selfish few who think about themselves first. One point though – if there was ever an argument to get off the Earth and start exploring/colonizing space this is it. All of our “eggs” are in one very fragile basket and its imperative for all of us to get out there!

Character Growth & Development – 3/5

Perhaps a bit too black and white with regards to the heroes and villains of this piece but overall, the characters themselves are believable and the way that they acted/reacted to the changing situations was well explored and thought out.

Story Growth & Development – 4/5

Unfortunately the scenario presented is a bit too real and believable. It would be great to have Bruce Willis fly up and destroy the asteroid in space, but considering how successful NASA has been on many less ambitious projects this is unlikely to happen either. The honest truth is that if a comet or asteroid similar to the one proposed ever did materialize in our future (which to some extent is inevitable) … barring a miracle, this book could turn out to be historical fiction vs. science fiction. L

Overall Rating – 7/10

If you like your scifi with a bit of real “science” and if you like reading about the end of the world … you’ll love this book! Give it a shot. Niven & Pournelle are excellent authors and know how to craft a yarn amazingly well.

December 30, 2014 0 comments

Comics Marvel

TOP 10 BEST X-MEN STORY BOOKS

by hutchm December 11, 2014

written by hutchm

This article was initially meant to be about the 10 best (single) issues of the X-Men, but as I started researching (re-reading) and reviewing, I quickly came to discover that more useful and informative would be the 10 best story arcs in the X-verse which I have tried to provide to you all below.

#10 – Inferno (#239-243):

Brief Synopsis:

“Inferno” was a Marvel Comics company-wide crossover concerning the corruption of Madelyne Pryor into the Goblin Queen, the final transformation of Illyana Rasputin into the Darkchylde, and a demonic invasion of New York City.

Good:

As this involved books across the Marvel Universe with some of the storylines being at best incidental and/or irrelvant, it was a bit of a mish-mash of characters and writers. However, the actual main X-Titles, written by Claremont were actually very well done and the story/character development in them extremely well explored. Some of the fight sequences in this arc are exceptional and worth a read as are some of the graphical elements!

Bad:

As mentioned previously, the fact that these books crossed the Marvel Universe made it a little bit of a pain to ensure that you actually caught all the key elements that might have happened.

#9 – The Morlock Mutant Massacre (#210-#213):

Brief Synopsis:

The Morlocks are under attack. The Marauders are acting like hunting parties, tracking down the Morlocks and viciously killing them without apparent cause. The X-Men and other heroes rush in to help stop, or at least, slow the slaughter.

Good:

Wolverine and Sabretooth have a pair of classic bouts, setting up what will become one of comics’ classic rivalries. Some definite character growth and development as Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus take serious injuries while Angel of X-Factor experiences the agony of having his wings impaled by harpoons.

Bad:

The Morlock Mutant Massacre is the first X-Men crossover, and one of the best so not too much to say with regards to the ‘Bad’.

#8 – Age of Apocalypse

Brief Synopsis

Legion (David Haller), a powerful psionic mutant on Earth and son of Professor Charles Xavier, travels back in time with the intention of killing Magneto. He believes Magneto’s death will allow Xavier to achieve his dream of human/mutant equality. But Legion traveled to a time when Magneto and Xavier were still friends. So Xavier dies trying to protect Magneto. Legion vanishes, and a new timeline is created. The only person aware of how history has changed is Bishop, a time traveling mutant who followed Legion.

Because of Xavier’s sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend’s dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Apocalypse, an immortal mutant villain, was monitoring the fight. He chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his world conquest, which didn’t happen in the regular Marvel Universe for another ten years.

Good

Logan & Jean Grey get together … Magneto & Rogue … some excellent ‘what-if’ scenarios and battles are explored … what’s not to like?!

Bad

Some people have this near the top of their lists and others at the bottom. Its near the bottom of mine not because the story isn’t interesting, but rather because there are too many different books to follow and pick up.

#7 – God Loves, Man Kills (Marvel Graphic Novel #5):

Brief Synopsis

“God Loves, Man Kills” is a powerful story resonating with all kinds of persecuted minorities such as African-Americans, Jews and homosexuals. It’s also surprisingly personal, emotionally complex, beautifully rendered and well deserving of a place on this list.

Good

Yet another X-Men story that is widely considered to be a classic. An emotionally charged story with young kids murdered and mutants being persecuted. But artist Brent Anderson does a great job of using images to allude to historical events without becoming heavy-handed. Writer Chris Claremont does a great job of using crowd reactions to show that the issue may be more complicated than either Rev. Stryker or the X-Men are willing to admit. The real heroes of this story are actually two normal cops who don’t know who to believe but who still do their duty.

Bad

Definitely NOT a story that you would expect in a Comic book – very deep and emotional and shows a different side to a lot of characters. Nothing really bad about this one.

#6 – Acts of Vengeance(#256-#258):

Brief Synopsis:

Written by Chris Claremont. Art by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Joe Rubinstein. During the infamous “Acts of Vengeance,” Wolverine and Jubilee face off with Iron Man’s arch nemesis the Mandarin and the Hand’s deadly new assassin – Psylocke?! At this point in X-Men history, the team has disbanded and the various heroes are scattered around the globe. The Mandarin takes advantage of the situation and kidnaps Psylocke. He brainwashes her, body-switches her and transforms her into his assassin.

Good:

Wolverine on his own against Mandarin, the Hand and a host of ninja assassins. It’s a great kung fu action story, with one hero facing impossible odds and the other hero the unwilling pawn of the enemy. Plus, the story serves as Jim Lee’s introduction to the X-Men.

Bad:

The main crossover is admittedly pretty awful but it resulted in some great tie-in stories, especially in the X-Men titles

#5 – Broodfall(#232-#234):

Brief Synopsis:

The Brood is Marvel’s foray into a predatory alien race not all that far off from H.R. Giger territory, only they infect their victims like a virus, eventually turning them and assimilating them into the Brood collective. This is the best Brood story ever, bar none. While all of the earlier Brood stories featured the X-Men going into space and facing the Brood out there, this story features the Brood coming to earth. That means that if the X-Men lose, the Earth loses. That makes the stakes a lot bigger and much more personal than in previous Brood stories.

Good:

The Brood infect Wolverine with one of their seed. Wolverine has often been the focus of stories in which he has to battle his own inner demons. This time, he has to battle an inner demon that isn’t his own! Of course, there are also big battles, panic in the streets to make even Japanese monster movie enthusiasts happy, Brood beasts throwing cars around and more superhero action than you can shake a stick at. This is definitely the highlight of the Marc Silvestri era of the X-Men. Some excellent covers and artwork are also evident!!

Bad:

Nothing bad to say about this one!

#4 – Rogue Redux (#269)

Brief Synopsis:

Rogue is spat out from the Siege Perilous to land in her room in the X-Men’s headquarters in the Australian Outback, seemingly unchanged. From a news report, she learns that Mystique has been murdered. As she tries to alert her teammates, she learns firstly that she has lost her Ms. Marvel powers and secondly that the HQ is now back in the hands of the Reavers. Surprisingly, Carol Danvers now has a body of her own again and, while she fights the Reavers, Rogue absorbs Gateway’s powers long enough to teleport herself and (accidentally) Carol away. Carol ends up on Muir Isle. Though struggling bravely, she falls under the control of the Shadow King and chases Rogue as his servant.

Good:

Rogue and Magneto – together gain for the first time. Some great fight sequences and battles and also some amazing covers.

Bad:

Doesn’t really do anything to advance the storyline but still a very good story in and of itself.

#3 – The Hellfire Club – (#207-#209)

Brief Synopsis:

John Romita Jr.’s first run on the series, and features a murderous scuffle between X-Man Rachel Summers (Phoenix II) and Selene, a member of the infamous Hellfire Club, the mysterious “Inner Circle” of which likes to control world affairs a little more than they should.

Good:

A huge brawl in Central Park with the whole Hellfire Club taking on the X-Men and then it gets even better with Nimrod, the super mega badass Sentinel programmed to destroy all mutants.

Bad:

Nothing bad here either!!

#2 – Days of Future Past (#141-#142):

Brief Synopsis:

A graying Wolverine, an adult Kitty Pryde, a dystopic future ruled by mutant-hunting Sentinels, the death of the X-Men and a time travel story. This is the inspiration for the most recent X-Men movie

Good:

This is another of the classic X-Men stories.

Bad:

It doesn’t hold up quite as well as “The Dark Phoenix Saga” but it’s hard to hold that against the original story. It’s just that it’s been copied, imitated, parodied and revisited so often that it doesn’t seem as original as it would have at the time.

#1 – The Dark Phoenix Saga (#129-#138):

Brief Synopsis:

Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne, this is the story that shows up on lists of the best comic book stories of all-time. And it deserves it. Reportedly, Claremont and Byrne had observed that over the years, a number of villains had reformed and become heroes but we’d never seen a comic book hero fall and become a villain. They decided to tell the untold tale and they chose beloved ingénue Jean Grey, aka Marvel Girl, for the role.

The Dark Phoenix Saga is one of comics’ great tragedies. It explores the axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Slowly, Jean Grey, now known as Phoenix, begins to flex her powers in ways that the readers and her teammates find morally questionable. Yet, the fall is made even more tragic by the involvement of the Hellfire Club. Jason Wyngarde, aka Mastermind, manipulates her mind and her emotions which makes Jean Grey a victim of tragic circumstances as much as of her own power. Uninhibited by any morality, Phoenix eventually uses a sun to replenish her powers, causing the sun to go supernova and killing billions of inhabitants of that solar system. That crime brings Phoenix to the attention of the Shi’ar Empire, now set on capturing and executing her for mass murder. The tragedy is further deepened when Jean Grey is apparently “cured” of the Phoenix power before she stands trial meaning that the Shi’ar are convicting the innocent ingénue rather than the powerful Phoenix. The X-Men, despite their earlier reservations, stand by Jean Grey only to watch her sacrifice herself in order to save the rest of the team.

Good:

Action, fights galore and an excellent story that captures your heart and mind. This is number 1 becasue it’s the best and well deserves this rating!

Bad:

This is it. This is the big one. There is NOTHING bad about this book. If you’ve not read it before, get it now. You won’t be sorry.

December 11, 2014 3 comments

SciFi

THE STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester

by hutchm October 13, 2014

written by hutchm

Originally published in 1956 by Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination is a classic scifi retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo.

A fast paced almost frantic story, Gully Foyle’s transformation from a worthless nobody and only survivor on board the ship Nomad into a savior of humanity is a tragic story but at the same time one that enthralls almost from the first word on the page.

I have read The Stars My Destination many times over the years and each time I find something else to enjoy and learn from this book. I think a classic is one that has this hold and continues to teach while at the same time allowing you to enjoy the story and lose yourself in its elements.

Tiger Tiger!

Moore’s 1999 cover for the SF Masterworks edition of The Stars My Destination. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Trapped and marooned on the spaceship Nomad, Gully Foyle has survived for over 170 days on the stores left on the ship and by himself is slowly going mad. When his sister ship Vorga seems to pass him by after he releases flares to call her attention, he completely goes off the deep end and his new ambition is to obtain revenge on those who left him to die.

Cobbling together a means of moving the damaged Nomad, Foyle is “rescued” by the inhabitants of the Asteroid Belt. Here he is tattooed by the people who have degenerated with a mask and the name Nomad emblazoned over his face.

Escaping from these people, he is able to make his way to the Inner Planets – Earth – where he is sent to a hospital to recover from his injuries. As they are unable to do anything about the tattooing of his face, his “mask” is left intact and in the early part of the book no one knows him without this horrible disfigurement.

Jaunting

In the Universe of Gully Foyle – Humanity has learned how to teleport themselves – with people having varying and differing skills in this ability (the maximum distance being 1000 miles at a time), women are once again kept segregated and secure “for their own protection”.

This ability – called Jaunting – after its discoverer has other implications also and the structure of of society as a whole has changed entirely. Property is handled differently and with anyone able to “port” from place to place simply by knowing their arrival and destination locations security has had to be radically altered in many different ways also. Not least of these is the way in which prisons are structured as the only way to keep prisoners confined is by keeping them in the dark without any access to to the outside world at all.

The only restriction right now on Jaunting is that it is restricted to the surface of the Planet. Any attempts to Jaunt from one planet to another have always met with failure and death.

Gully Foyle in hospital discovers his ability to Jaunt and starts his investigation into the owners of theVorga – the ship that left him stranded all alone when it could have rescued him.

Eventually staging a daring raid on the ship itself he is captured and sent to Gouffre Martel, a complex of underground caves in the Pyrenees. These are used as a prison, where the inmates live in total darkness, unable to form a picture of their location in order to jaunte.

Managing to escape from Gouffre Martel, Foyle realizes that he has to return toNomad to obtain the treasure that is contained on that ship and with this treasure finally complete his revenge on the Vorga and its true masters.

Final Thoughts

One of the all time classics of the genre, The Stars My Destination is an excellent read and one that I would urge you to explore and enjoy. It will keep you interested from page one if you’re like me, up till late at night to see how it finishes!

October 13, 2014 2 comments

Comic Book

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1

by hutchm August 11, 2014

written by hutchm

Marvel Studios’ new superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy is a smart, funny, self-aware bubblegum movie, like the recent X-Men film Days of Future Past, it features a retro playlist indicating an increasing possibility that middle youth, as well as actual youth, is an important target audience.

Guardians of the Galaxy is a Marvel Comics-based sci-fi action adventure about a group of misfit outlaws who band together to defend the universe against a murderous villain.In many respects, “Guardians,” directed and co-written by indie wit James Gunn, and starring buffed-up former schlub Chris Pratt and Really Big Sci-Fi Blockbuster vet Zoe Saldana (here dyed green as opposed to her “Avatar” blue), is a fun and relatively fresh space Western.

Think “Firefly” pitched at 15-year-olds, with a lot of overt “Star Wars” nods. And super-“irreverent” dialogue that is, more often than not, genuinely funny. The wisecracking by the characters played by Pratt (a kind of junior Han Solo) and voiced by Bradley Cooper (whose Rocket Raccoon, who is, yes, a genetically altered raccoon) is so incessant viewers of a certain age might wonder whether this movie has been put through the “What’s Up Tiger Lily” dialogue-replacement treatment before release.

Pratt’s self-styled “Starlord” and Rocket are not the strangest of the initially inadvertent teammates in this intergalactic posse. Saldana’s Gamora is a stealthy warrior princess who’s been lying low in an evil family before revealing her good intentions; wrestling star Dave Bautista’s Drax is a vengeance-driven behemoth whose florid language only briefly masks his inability to take anything other than literally; and Rocket’s “muscle,” Groot, is a walking, minimally talking tree.

These guys are entertainingly motley, which makes the fact that their mission, to save the universe from a mass-murdering megalomaniac who seeks an item which will grant him unimaginable mass-murdering power (yes, more mass-murdering power than he ever had before), is generic in a way that’s pretty consistent with movies of this sort.

August 11, 2014 1 comment

Books SciFi

OLD MAN’S WAR – John Scalzi

by hutchm September 30, 2013

written by hutchm

In a rather ironic twist, I am writing a book review on a website about a book that was initially serialized on a blog! John Scalzi is the owner of the domain name and site – http://whatever.scalzi.com/and has become a well known SciFi author with his series of books entitled:

· Old Man’s War (2005)

· The Ghost Brigades (2006)

· The Last Colony (2007)

· Zoe’s Tale (2008)

These books all take place in a universe hostile to humanity, where the search for and colonization of new worlds is viciously contested by a variety of Alien species and races. While there are some similarities to Robert Heinlein’s – Starship Troopers, the underlying story in itself is surprisingly unique, well thought out and conceived.

In addition to becoming a best selling author through the use of his online blog, Scalzi has also conducted other innovative strategies to popularize his work with his most recent book in the Old Man’s War series – The Human Division – being available via a nominal cost through digital downloads.

Another prolific author (similar to Brandon Sanderson), John Scalzi has written a host of titles in the Old Man’s War universe as already discussed he has also an extremely funny and engaging book called RedShirts that is definitely worth a read also!

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce–and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Summary

Old Man’s War – the first in the series, tells the story of John Perry. At the ripe old age of 75 American’s are given the option of “joining” the CDF (Colonial Defence Forces) where they will be made young again. No one on Earth or its colonies knows how this miracle is accomplished and while they continue to supply the raw material, the CDF is responsible for policing and protecting all of humanity in its struggles with the other alien empires. Humanities allies are few and far between and its colonized sphere of space is surrounded by enemies numbering in the trillions.

Away from the gravity well of Earth the secret is however made clear. As CDF soldiers (and for the 25% who survive) eventual colonists learn, regenerating their existing bodies is not an option afterall, but the CDF has come up with a way of transferring their consciousness from their existing bodies into newly cloned ones. However these clones are better than the originals with faster reflexes, better healing and an integrated computer system. What they learn during basic training though is that this is the “minimum” that humanity needs to survive in this hostile universe as the aliens they are competing against are just as fast and even more vicious.

After receiving basic training on Beta Pyxis III, Perry is shipped out to the CDF’s Modesto. In his first battle against the enigmatic Consu (a race that seems to model their fighting against whoever they are fighting against and are significantly in advance of humanity in terms of technology), John is able to improvise a tactic that enables the CDF to successfully win the battle.

Through the course of several different engagements his leadership and intuition continues to play a key role, until the battle for Coral. Here the CDF suffers a huge defeat, losing a significant portion of their fleet and their soldiers where John Perry is the only person to have survived and has crash landed on the planet.

Rescued by the Ghost Brigade forces – Special Forces units of the CDF, John joins up with Jane Sagan (a clone generated from his dead wife’s DNA) and prepares to assault Coral again.

…

I know, I’ve stopped just when it’s getting interesting! Trust me – this is one book you’ll love to have in your library and what I’ve told you so far will only get you to the half way point! Get it – you won’t be disappointed.

My Thoughts –

A really well thought out 1st book and a definite page turner. Will keep you gripped from beginning to end and the concept of the clones being from the elderly vs. just grabbing anyone willy-nilly from Earth is quite a cool idea! I really liked this book and its overall characterizations as well as the writing and would definitely recommend it.

Character Growth & Development – 4/5

The key characters in the series are all believable and Perry is someone that you root for right from the beginning. Finding Jane is quite traumatic and very surprising and you can really feel for the character throughout the story.

Story Growth & Development – 4/5

Really good and gripping. While Humanity might be one of the few races to “augment” its people in the battles the obvious question becomes why aren’t other races doing it? Secondary questions of course include the obvious – why is anyone fighting for real estate in an infinite universe, but that is a key factor in any space based book isn’t it!

Overall Rating – 8/10

September 30, 2013 0 comments

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