Losing My Faith (In Doctor Who)

I've been a Doctor Who fan since the early 1990s, which was an odd time to become one given it was on a hiatus that seemed like it'd never end. I've loved it in all its form since; the New Adventures, the TV movie, BBC Books, Big Finish and New Who. I've enjoyed it even when I've not liked the Doctor (number 9) AND the companion (Rose Tyler). The writing has always kept me interested.

I liked Amy and Rory enough that last series I overlooked how convoluted and forced the series 6 arc felt. And now I like Clara as a character. She's bubbly and just mad enough to fit Matt Smith's Doctor. But I'm absolutely not interested in her backstory which appears to be serving as this series' arc. And to make matters worse, the individual episodes are suffering from what, in my opinion, seems to be some of the worst writing/plotting since the series returned.

Last week we saw singing and a leaf defeat a "God". Yes. Singing. This week we had some fantastic moments with an Ice Warrior stalking a Soviet sub but the ending again fizzled out. I didn't even enjoy the Christmas special. The series feels childish, in a way it hasn't since... well since forever. Even when the series was made for children it seemed more mature than it does at the moment.

And thus I've made a horrific discovery... I no longer look forward to episodes. Oh I still watch them, 20 years of fandom doesn't just disappear over night. But I'm pretty depressed that something I've loved for a very long time is just no longer doing it for me. Maybe I've just moved on.

Game of Thrones on the other hand...

So... Last Weekend's Telly Was Pretty Good Wasn't It?

First up was the return of series 7 (is this season 33?) of Doctor Who. For some reason I've been gradually losing heart with the direction of Doctor Who. It's becoming too clever for it's own good, in my opinion. Sometimes I just want a story with character development but not too much timey-wimeyness. Don't get me wrong, there's obviously place for timey-wimeyness in Doctor Who. But not all the time. So I started watching The Bells of Saint John more out of duty than pleasure and was not expecting to like it quite as much as I did.

Best episode ever? Hell no. But solid, enjoyable and rewatchable? Absolutely. Celia Imrie was an excellent villain, the episode sort of had thematic similarities to "Partners In Crime" and I'm liking the emergence of a proper "Big Bad" for the series in the form of the Great Intelligence. It hasn't made me fall completely back in love with the Doctor's adventures but it gave me a big slap in the face and told me to stop moaning and just bloody enjoy them!

Second came the season 3 finale of The Walking Dead. Here's another show I've fallen out of love with. It's not that it isn't following the comic storyline close enough; I quite enjoy the "surprise" of things going differently. But it just seems to be too decompressed. They could develop the characters just as much and tell the same story but in far fewer episodes (and I'm never usually one to call for less episodes). And whereas I was hoping for a final climatic battle, or at least some solid conclusion to this chapter of the story, all we got was a bit of a damp squib. Plus this series they first ruined and then in this episode killed my favourite character. There wasn't even a cliffhanger, just a set up for the next series. *sigh*

And then finally came the series 3 opening episode of Game of Thrones. There was no trepidation on my part in watching this, I've been waiting for this way too eagerly to be totally healthy. And it delivered, excellent story as ever and I'm (not having read the books) putting my flag firmly in Daenerys corner. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I just want more and more!

And this week, on a Twitter recommendation, I decided to watch the 3-parter "In The Flesh". My geeky love of zombies meant I'd heard about it but every blog post I saw on it as about how it was some lovey-dovey zombie story and I wasn't into that. How wrong those previews were. It was fantastic take on a less explored area of zombie lore... what happens if the zombies (or "rotters") are "cured"? Emotional and dark, the final minutes of the last episode had me quite teary. I cannot recommend this enough.

Genre TV is good these days :)

Asylum's Age Of Dinosaurs Actually Looking Quite Good?

So with the news that Jurassic Park IV has got a director lined up (Colin Trevorrow, famous for Safety Not Guaranteed [which I tried to watch just a few days before the announcement but couldn't get into it]), things are firming up on that front. But that movie is still over a year away, whereas The Asylum's latest pic Age of Dinosaurs is due in a little over a month.

The Asylum movies are, generally, rubbish. Don't get me wrong... I've watch most of them. And enjoyed a few (Hello Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus!). But they are not usually something to get excited about. Their mockbusters are the worst part of their output. However Age of Dinosaurs (released as a mockbuster to Jurassic Park 3D) is looking interesting. The special effects look like some of the best from The Asylum so far (not hard I hear you cry!). Take a look at the trailer and judge for yourself.

Review: A Meeting At Corvallis By S.M. Stirling

The final book in the first Emberverse trilogy, A Meeting At Corvallis is all about the long-awaited War of the Eye between the Bear Killers, Mackenzies and their allies and the Portland Protective Association.

This book is full of fights and battles which can sometimes be a bit hard going when faced with Stirling's habit of describing every minor detail of every minor character's battle dress and weaponry. But it also has plenty of political intrigue, character development and world-building which keeps it interesting.

It is a good read, but I found the ending a little predictable and a bit of a let down. After all these "minor" battles we are denied a final reckoning and instead have an ending that bears no small resemblance to the ending of Kevin Costner's "The Postman". *sigh*

And I wasn't a fan of the death of one of my favourite characters.

However I'm too far in to stop now. The Emberverse has me in its grip. Onwards to The Sunrise Lands.

The Leftovers

Ever wondered what might actually happened to the world is the Rapture occurred? The Leftovers is a far more interesting take on a post-Rapture world than Left Behind could ever be.

Set three years after the Great Disappearance, The Leftovers focuses on what happens to one family who survived it. Now I was expecting this to be at the very least "minor league" fantasy but really this isn't science fiction, fantasy or any other exotic genre... it's a book about emotions, relationships and family breakdown. Yet I still liked it.

Do not go into this book thinking it will explain the Great Disappearance/Rapture. That event is just all Alien Space Bats. The drama comes simply from the relationships between people and the never quite knowing where things are heading for the main characters.

Weird enough to be interesting, but well-written enough to be readable, The Leftovers will be fighting for top spot on my favourite books of 2013 list.

Great stuff.

Orson Scott Card, Superman And The Well-Meaning Mob

Orson Scott Card. Where does one start? A talented writer. A dedicated Latter-day Saint. And not a very nice man. And not just because of his rather severe stance on LGBT issues. He often comes across as the sort of person one just wouldn't want as an acquaintance let alone as a friend. Of course that is a matter of personal taste I suppose, and there is no accounting for that!

He has been hired by DC Comics to write a new Superman series, Adventures of Superman. And it hasn't gone down well.

Some people are saying they will boycott the comic. That is quite fair, even forgetting about some "high-minded principle" I often find it hard to enjoy fiction when I don't really like the personal beliefs of the writer. Dean R Koontz is an example of that. I loved his stuff but once I discovered he was a little bit fundamentalist (if there is such a thing as a "little bit fundamentalist) I've read his stuff with a little less enjoyment. I still read his stuff, as it is usually very good, but it now lacks a certain something.

But others have gone further demanding that DC "fire" him. This I feel is going a bit too far. Firstly, if enough people boycott the series then that would send a far clearer message to DC than a petition. Secondly, it all stinks of the beginnings of a "blacklist".

It wasn't that many decades ago when LGBT were banned from certain jobs. Remember the blacklist of Communists (and anyone claimed to be a Communist by pretty much anyone else) in the entertainment industry in America? If we start banning people from working within the comic industry just because they aren't very nice then where would that end? Would we be any better than McCarthy? I don't think so. It is a very worrying development and it is time we rose above this sort of mob mentality. Absolutely do not buy his comics if you don't wish to. Tell your friends, family and anyone who will listen that he is a really unkind man who deserves no monetary support. But trying to get him "blacklisted" will make him a martyr. And he's arrogant enough as it is.

Will I buy the new book? Possibly. I'll wait for the reviews and, if they are good, I'll probably give it a go. I'm a sucker for a good Superman story!

Review: A Big Hand For The Doctor By Eoin Colfer

A Big Hand For The Doctor was a good opener for the 50th Anniversary series of Doctor Who e-books written by children's authors.

But it was marred by one annoying little thing... it had three or four pop culture references (all from the 21st century) that just seem so forced (Oooo... Hogwarts) that it was actually pretty jarring. Here's this nice little tale set in Victorian London featuring the First Doctor and Susan and suddenly BAM you are taken out of the story by an unnecessary reference.

Anyway, enough grumbling, it was a lovely little tale with some disturbing villains and a fantastic ending that I did not see coming (but once you know what it is, it is pretty obvious!).