Various reviews and a bit of an update
Apr. 14th, 2007 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyI've read A Hat Full Of Sky and The Bookseller of Kabul, I've watched The Gigolos and Mirrormask and I've finished Dreamfall and Shadow Hearts 2 on the computer and PS2 respectively.
So... A Hat Full Of Sky
It's Pratchett. It's the sequel to The Wee Free Men meaning that the hero (heroine?) is Tiffany Aching and there's a bit of Granny in it. It's a decent enough story and it ticks all the usual "Witches" boxes; however, overall it's about an average Pratchett. I would recommend it however (particularly if you liked The Wee Free Men - and do read the other one first).
The Bookseller of Kabul
It's written by a (Norwegian female) journalist who stayed with an Afghan bookseller and his family shortly after the Taliban were kicked out. This book primarily focuses on how the women are treated (ie. traditionally) which appears to have shocked the writer because, I think, getting to know the bookseller beforehand, she assumed he's more liberal than his actually is. It also focuses on the anti-Taliban feelings in the country, the culture and some of the local politics. Apparently after it was published, the bookseller was furious and wrote his reply to the "accusations" levelled.
This was book two (for me) of the work bookclub; although I've been promised that it won't all be books about living in other countries (not least because I've recommended the next book). I found it more upbeat than I was expecting (having been warned about the content), but otherwise a disappointment. The chapters are all rather disjoint and make it seem more of a series of facts. On top of that, there's no real plot and you don't find out much about "what happened next". So, interesting enough if you wanted to read about post-Taliban Afghanistan, but otherwise I suggest avoiding it.
The Gigolos
This is a small budget British film which is a 12A rating and given the title, surprisingly contains no nudity and no drugs. It's about a pair of men one of whom is a gigolo and the other is, effectively, his organiser. These men are Sacha and Trevor respectively, played and written by a couple of men also called Sacha and Trevor.
I think the thing I liked most about it is that it didn't ever explain itself, but assumed you could follow the story on screen. I also liked London-spotting (where this is set). However, I found the plot rather lacking and it isn't an action film (or murder mystery or speculative fiction). We got thrown out in the middle due to a false fire alarm (we saw it at the Arts in Cambridge, as my sister-in-law suggested it for Easter Saturday night) and I think I can summarise my overall opinion by saying that if either of the others had wanted to go home at that point (we were half-way through) I wouldn't have objected.
Mirrormask
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bateleur wanted to see this when it first came out, but our local cinema wasn't showing it. However I bought a copy recently and we settled down to watch it last night.
McKean and Gaiman are distinctive and Mirrormask is very much theirs from the art to the plot. As expected, it felt very much like watching a graphic novel. In itself it's a nice piece, although I would have liked a little more plot (my usual complaint). It reminded me a lot of Spirited Away.
Dreamfall
This is the sequel to The Longest Journey and it really is a lovely piece of work. It's an adventure game of the plot and puzzle variety produced by a small Norwegian games company. Even thought it has real time puzzles and some combat (both pet hates of mine when they appear in this genre) I still loved it to pieces.
Why? Because the plot (PLOT!) is a good one and the characters are believable. It's got a nice soundtrack (including music from Magnet which I haven't come across before) and, best of all, doesn't suffer from the "small hotspot" problem. I loved the main character - Zoe and thoroughly enjoyed visiting both new places and old. It's also really creepy in places, both the room 206 stuff and the scenes in Russia near the end.
However, I have two warnings about it.
- The first is that it really is a sequel to The Longest Journey and you do want to play them in that order.
- The second is that it's the second of a series rather than a self-contained story in its own right and leaves all three protagonists with very uncertain futures. On top of that, pretty much all the questions that Dreamfall raises don't get answered (with a couple of exceptions).
The question of whether the series would continue had been left hanging, however the company in question have now received a grant from the Norwegian government to continue the series and the main, err, odd job man Ragnar Tornquist (he's writer/producer/etc, except he isn't) has indicated that future episodes will bring it to a finish. Although they're still debating whether the next game will be released in box format or on-line only.
Shadow Hearts II
I also thought that Shadow Hearts 2 was great. It's a party roleplaying game not dissimilar to Final Fantasy although it's set all over the real world at the time of WW1 (but still has magic and demons and other rather non-real worldy things). The main thing that brought down Shadow Hearts for me was the high random encounter rate - which SH2 has fixed. Again it has a decent plot although, again, it's best to start with SH1.
I'll try not to spoiler the plot too much, but I will say I found it overall enjoyable although I wasn't that keen on the ending. Their choice of finish made me wonder if the producer was taking the line "I'm going to stop them from making a SH3..."
In between reading, watching and playing I've been enjoying the Easter fortnight, mostly spent at home (minus a day in work and half a day working from home).
Work - Getting away for a while, has been great - relaxing and generally forgetting about issues and deadlines - when I go back to the job applications and the general grind I reckon it'll be easier to get back in and do (although I'll never be an early morning person).
Kew Gardens -bateleur and I went to walk there last Wednesday. It's the first time I've been all the way around and I really enjoyed it. The bluebells were good (although still coming out) and the holly walk was lovely (I want to do it again next Christmas time when the berries are out!). We saw loads of weird trees and lakes and a brightly coloured bird or two (number two was a peacock). The cake and coffee was pretty good too, although not cheap. Having seen how near and convenient it is we've now decided to buy a season ticket. Which may mean we never arrange to go again - but I have faith.
ICESP - Last Monday's session included metamorphing policemen, the Oracle (but certainly not from Delphi), a fight in the dreamscape and a chat with a soon-to-be ex-MP. The campaign is heading for a close and the party are developing an interest in electricity pylons. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and the players appear to still be speaking to me - so all is good.
Haircut - I had one. They took nearly a foot off. I still doubt that anyone will notice (Bea certainly didn't).
Economics Diploma - This continues to go OK. I have another tutor marked assignment due in about a week and a half. However, sadly, it isn't on hoped-for Game Theory (which I enjoyed re-reading about) but covers the rest of part II; so I'll just have to grit my teeth and re-read those other two chapters.
Book five - I've finally planned out a new book and have written the first chapter.
And the weather's been lovely.
So... A Hat Full Of Sky
It's Pratchett. It's the sequel to The Wee Free Men meaning that the hero (heroine?) is Tiffany Aching and there's a bit of Granny in it. It's a decent enough story and it ticks all the usual "Witches" boxes; however, overall it's about an average Pratchett. I would recommend it however (particularly if you liked The Wee Free Men - and do read the other one first).
The Bookseller of Kabul
It's written by a (Norwegian female) journalist who stayed with an Afghan bookseller and his family shortly after the Taliban were kicked out. This book primarily focuses on how the women are treated (ie. traditionally) which appears to have shocked the writer because, I think, getting to know the bookseller beforehand, she assumed he's more liberal than his actually is. It also focuses on the anti-Taliban feelings in the country, the culture and some of the local politics. Apparently after it was published, the bookseller was furious and wrote his reply to the "accusations" levelled.
This was book two (for me) of the work bookclub; although I've been promised that it won't all be books about living in other countries (not least because I've recommended the next book). I found it more upbeat than I was expecting (having been warned about the content), but otherwise a disappointment. The chapters are all rather disjoint and make it seem more of a series of facts. On top of that, there's no real plot and you don't find out much about "what happened next". So, interesting enough if you wanted to read about post-Taliban Afghanistan, but otherwise I suggest avoiding it.
The Gigolos
This is a small budget British film which is a 12A rating and given the title, surprisingly contains no nudity and no drugs. It's about a pair of men one of whom is a gigolo and the other is, effectively, his organiser. These men are Sacha and Trevor respectively, played and written by a couple of men also called Sacha and Trevor.
I think the thing I liked most about it is that it didn't ever explain itself, but assumed you could follow the story on screen. I also liked London-spotting (where this is set). However, I found the plot rather lacking and it isn't an action film (or murder mystery or speculative fiction). We got thrown out in the middle due to a false fire alarm (we saw it at the Arts in Cambridge, as my sister-in-law suggested it for Easter Saturday night) and I think I can summarise my overall opinion by saying that if either of the others had wanted to go home at that point (we were half-way through) I wouldn't have objected.
Mirrormask
bateleur wanted to see this when it first came out, but our local cinema wasn't showing it. However I bought a copy recently and we settled down to watch it last night.McKean and Gaiman are distinctive and Mirrormask is very much theirs from the art to the plot. As expected, it felt very much like watching a graphic novel. In itself it's a nice piece, although I would have liked a little more plot (my usual complaint). It reminded me a lot of Spirited Away.
Dreamfall
This is the sequel to The Longest Journey and it really is a lovely piece of work. It's an adventure game of the plot and puzzle variety produced by a small Norwegian games company. Even thought it has real time puzzles and some combat (both pet hates of mine when they appear in this genre) I still loved it to pieces.
Why? Because the plot (PLOT!) is a good one and the characters are believable. It's got a nice soundtrack (including music from Magnet which I haven't come across before) and, best of all, doesn't suffer from the "small hotspot" problem. I loved the main character - Zoe and thoroughly enjoyed visiting both new places and old. It's also really creepy in places, both the room 206 stuff and the scenes in Russia near the end.
However, I have two warnings about it.
- The first is that it really is a sequel to The Longest Journey and you do want to play them in that order.
- The second is that it's the second of a series rather than a self-contained story in its own right and leaves all three protagonists with very uncertain futures. On top of that, pretty much all the questions that Dreamfall raises don't get answered (with a couple of exceptions).
The question of whether the series would continue had been left hanging, however the company in question have now received a grant from the Norwegian government to continue the series and the main, err, odd job man Ragnar Tornquist (he's writer/producer/etc, except he isn't) has indicated that future episodes will bring it to a finish. Although they're still debating whether the next game will be released in box format or on-line only.
Shadow Hearts II
I also thought that Shadow Hearts 2 was great. It's a party roleplaying game not dissimilar to Final Fantasy although it's set all over the real world at the time of WW1 (but still has magic and demons and other rather non-real worldy things). The main thing that brought down Shadow Hearts for me was the high random encounter rate - which SH2 has fixed. Again it has a decent plot although, again, it's best to start with SH1.
I'll try not to spoiler the plot too much, but I will say I found it overall enjoyable although I wasn't that keen on the ending. Their choice of finish made me wonder if the producer was taking the line "I'm going to stop them from making a SH3..."
In between reading, watching and playing I've been enjoying the Easter fortnight, mostly spent at home (minus a day in work and half a day working from home).
Work - Getting away for a while, has been great - relaxing and generally forgetting about issues and deadlines - when I go back to the job applications and the general grind I reckon it'll be easier to get back in and do (although I'll never be an early morning person).
Kew Gardens -
bateleur and I went to walk there last Wednesday. It's the first time I've been all the way around and I really enjoyed it. The bluebells were good (although still coming out) and the holly walk was lovely (I want to do it again next Christmas time when the berries are out!). We saw loads of weird trees and lakes and a brightly coloured bird or two (number two was a peacock). The cake and coffee was pretty good too, although not cheap. Having seen how near and convenient it is we've now decided to buy a season ticket. Which may mean we never arrange to go again - but I have faith.ICESP - Last Monday's session included metamorphing policemen, the Oracle (but certainly not from Delphi), a fight in the dreamscape and a chat with a soon-to-be ex-MP. The campaign is heading for a close and the party are developing an interest in electricity pylons. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and the players appear to still be speaking to me - so all is good.
Haircut - I had one. They took nearly a foot off. I still doubt that anyone will notice (Bea certainly didn't).
Economics Diploma - This continues to go OK. I have another tutor marked assignment due in about a week and a half. However, sadly, it isn't on hoped-for Game Theory (which I enjoyed re-reading about) but covers the rest of part II; so I'll just have to grit my teeth and re-read those other two chapters.
Book five - I've finally planned out a new book and have written the first chapter.
And the weather's been lovely.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-14 09:54 pm (UTC)Interesting. I've not seen it yet, and have been expecting it to be hugely disappointing considering the talent (McKean in particular) involved, but this gives me some hope.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 08:10 am (UTC)I'll give it a watch sometime, but I'm not expecting much other than style.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 08:41 pm (UTC)If you've been playing Dreamfall, then your computer is likely to have some pretty nasty device drivers installed on it that can cause problems. I recommend looking into how to remove them.
I was going to complain bitterly to the publishers (as the box and details say nothing about this), but it looks like Empire Interactive has gone bust.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 07:40 am (UTC)