Here are the quick hits from the world of movies, TV, games, K-Mart locations, laserdisc collections, whatever catches our fancy.
Movies
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says we can look forward to Hawkeye and Hulk having larger roles in the sequel. This pleases me.
“Part of the fun of Age of Ultron was saying, you’ve seen another Iron Man adventure before, you see another Thor adventure and another Cap adventure, but we haven’t seen the Green Goliath again. So that was important in the characters you haven’t seen – Hulk being one of them and Hawkeye being one of them – Ultron will make up for it. They have very big parts in Age of Ultron.”
Pan
In the long, successful tradition of actors playing characters of different ethnicity, like Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger or Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has been cast as Tiger Lily in 2015’s Pan. This movie sounds like a scene out of Dragon Tattoo…very uncomfortable to sit through.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Sebastian Stan has revealed that he has a nine picture deal with Marvel Studios. Get ready for Winter Soldier to be around for a long time.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Watching Arnold crush things with a tank is somehow deeply satisfying. He is doing it for charity as well, so no shame in helping out.
Games
Titanfall
Amazon raised Prime prices this week and now they have been caught deleting low scores for Titanfall by NeoGAF. Ruh Roh, Shaggy.
Valve
Check out the redesigned Steam controller which still looks weird as hell, but now with A,B,X and Y buttons.
Street Fighter
Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, an original web series, will debut on Machinima. It can’t be any worse than the last two movies…can it? At least the video has no Van Damme or Kristin Kreuk although it looks like the grand master is wearing one hell of an anal bead necklace.
http://youtu.be/GYjIT-HALrY
Books
Harry Potter
JK Rowling has released a new 2,400 word piece called History of the Quidditch World Cup. It is free and can be read on Pottermore.
[amazon_link id=”0062280635″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Doctor Who: The Vault[/amazon_link]- $45.00
“Doctor Who: The Vault is a journey through 50 years of Doctor Who, via carefully selected photographs, props, costumes, stills, production memos, letters, scripts, merchandise, and toys. This “museum in a book” tells the story of Doctor Who year-by-year, from the first pre-production memo in 1963 to the most recent props created for the latest series in 2013. It also includes new interviews with key players such as William Russell (one of Doctor Who’s companions appearing in most of the episodes of the first two seasons in 1963 and 1964), Terrance Dicks (the main Doctor Who script editor from 1968 – 1974 and writer of more than 60 novelizations of the TV series), Tom Baker (the hugely popular Fourth Doctor), Steven Moffat (the current lead writer, showrunner and co-creator of Sherlock), and Matt Smith.”
[amazon_link id=”1405914009″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Doctor Who: Essential Guide To 50 Years Of Doctor Who[/amazon_link]- $20.00
“This essential guide to fifty years of Doctor Who includes all eleven incarnations of the Doctor and fascinating facts on his adventures in space and time, as well as his helpful companions and fearsome foes. Find out all about the Doctor’s TARDIS, his regenerations, and much, much more.”
“With characters arranged alphabetically—from the Ancient Pythoness to Bethany Zanelli—bestselling author Charlaine Harris takes fans into the future of their favorite residents of Bon Temps and environs. You’ll learn how Michele and Jason’s marriage fared, what happened to Sookie’s cousin Hunter, and whether Tara and JB’s twins grew up to be solid citizens.”
[amazon_link id=”0316196142″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Long Live the Queen[/amazon_link]- $17.00
“Xandra Vardan thought life would be simpler when she accepted the goblin crown and became their queen, but life has only become more complicated. Everyone — vampires, werewolves and humans — wants the goblins on their side, because whoever has the goblins — wins.”
“We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.”
“Masks, the first novel in a mesmerizing new fantasy series, draws readers into a world in which cataclysmic events have left the Autarchy of Aygrima—the one land blessed with magical resources—cut off from its former trading partners across the waters, not knowing if any of those distant peoples still live. Yet under the rule of the Autarch, Aygrima survives. And thanks to the creation of the Masks and the vigilance of the Autarch’s Watchers, no one can threaten the security of the empire.”
“Cassie’s world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn’t what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: that for decades—back to the dawn of radio communications—human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity. That by interfering with our communications, this entity has tweaked history in massive and subtle ways. That humanity is, for purposes unknown, being farmed.”
At some point in the past year or so, Beth* presented me with a paperback novel called The Mongoliad: Book One. She had gotten in on an Amazon sale for next to nothing; it caught her attention because she recognized Neal Stephenson’s name from other works on my bookshelf. I didn’t actually get around to reading it, largely because I am not a fan of starting trilogies without being able to finish them shortly thereafter.
I kept an eye on the release dates for the next two books, but the series kind of slipped my mind until I was going thru my Amazon wishlists a few months back and came across the fact that all three volumes had been released; there were also numerous Kindle-exclusive short stories that tied in to what was now called the “Foreworld Saga.” Furthermore, special hardcover editions of each Mongoliad book had been released which included an additional short story and illustrations by the amazing [amazon_link id=”1401238629″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Mike Grell[/amazon_link].
A little more digging revealed that the entire series is a kind of experiment in collaboration and multi-media storytelling started by Stephenson; he was displeased with the authenticity of his fight scenes in another series, and so wanted to team with other authors and martial arts enthusiasts to create a series with realistic melee combat and military engagements.
Beth was awesome enough to get me the hardcover editions as an anniversary present, on the condition that I actually start reading them and review them here on the site. I recently wrapped up the first volume, which was comprised of the main novel and a short story called “Sinner” that serves as a kind of prologue.
The story takes place in an alternate-history version of the 13th century, and the authors have done a great job of researching the time period before using it to their own ends: Between the crusades and infighting, most of Europe has been left open to potential invasion by the descendants of Genghis Khan, and dark forces work unseen to bring more chaos to the world. Christendom’s last hopes reside with the Ordo Militum Vindicis Intactae (Knights of the Virgin Defender) a brotherhood of warrior-scholars who embark on a suicide mission to stop the Mongol horde.
The story is told from the perspective of numerous dialogue characters, each one written by a different author, and spanning several sides of the conflict. In addition to members of the Order, there is the mysterious young woman serving as their guide; a Mongol warrior sent into the fray of the khans’ courts; the Chinese slave woman who has been assigned to teaching him politics; and two warriors assigned to fight against the Order in a tournament for one of the khans.
The story being told is not groundbreaking, but is full of enough adventure and intrigue to keep things rolling along. I wouldn’t say that I disliked any of the dialogue characters, but I definitely had my favorites, such as Gansukh, the “Mongol of the Steppes in a Khan’s Court.” The initial sense of frustration he feels at his situation results in a genuine payoff as he learns how to play the political games of the palace regulars. Unfortunately, my favorite character isn’t introduced until the third act, and only gets two dialogue sections before the book ends.
That storyline, like almost every major plot point, goes unresolved when the book just kind of ends before anything gets wrapped up. While I understand that this is a trilogy, it started as a serialized set of stories, and the ending is the only time that really created an issue for me. The final dialogue segments for most characters don’t even have the panache of a good cliffhanger; it just feels like the collaborators went “Well that’s a good spot to leave off at before the next book.” While I certainly understand not wanting to make the first volume too long just to wrap up a few loose ends, the third volume is massive compared to the first two; I can’t help but wonder if a better balance of material could have been struck.
I’d also like to point out that my genuine interest in all of the characters does not extend to all of the authors involved in creating them; none of the collaborators are bad writers, but there is a distinct lack of polish to some of the sections. There is also the issue of multiple writers presenting their own version of the same characters, and the resulting viewpoints don’t always match up. Fans of any franchise that has an “expanded universe” involving novels written by multiple authors will be in familiar territory. The novel doesn’t suffer too much overall, but it was annoying to see an interesting character from one section be presented blandly in another.
Characters and plot aside, no good crusade-era adventure story would be worth it without some action scenes, especially when the entire project was started out of one author’s desire to write better combat. I can confirm that the Mongoliad serves up plenty of sword, shield and spear action, but there’s a reason Bruce Lee’s movies had a bigger audience than his technical demonstrations. To the right reader, I’m sure the novel’s action scenes read fluidly and evoke a sense of appreciation; for me, the amount of time spent trying to figure out the descriptions destroyed any sense of tension or urgency in the fights. In many cases, the dialogue between characters is sharper than any of the swords they’re wielding, and often has higher stakes.
The last thing I’d like to address is the short story “Sinner” that takes place before the novel, which introduces us to the Order and sets the tone of the Foreworld universe for new readers. I have a strange complaint, in that I found this story to be more compelling than the rest of the book. Perhaps it benefits from being a shorter, more concise piece that was written by a single author; that doesn’t change the fact that I would have rather read an extended version of this than the novel I ended up with.
The short still involves the Order – two knights named Andreas and Raphael, who are characters that appear in the larger work – but it also contains a fair amount of supernatural elements as well. I was therefore surprised when the novel itself only hinted at fantastical happenings; perhaps the next two books will shed more light on the subject. We also get a better grasp of the characters involved than we do in the larger work, with the exception of possibly Gansukh. Until I read the next novel, “Sinner” remains the best part of this work, in my opinion.
*= the significant other
[amazon_link id=”1612182364″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Mongoliad: Book One can be purchased on Amazon for only $7.99[/amazon_link]
1. [amazon_link id=”1594746370″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]William Shakespeare’s Star Wars[/amazon_link]- Ian Doescher- $14.95
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearstome Stormtroopers, signifying…pretty much everything.
2. [amazon_link id=”B009NFHF0Q” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Ocean at the End of the Lane[/amazon_link]-Neil Gaiman- $25.99
When Han and Leia Solo arrive at Lando Calrissian’s Outer Rim mining operation to help him thwart a hostile takeover, their aim is just to even up the odds and lay down the law. Then monstrous aliens arrive with a message, and mere threats escalate into violent sabotage with mass fatalities. When the dust settles, what began as corporate warfare becomes a battle with much higher stakes—and far deadlier consequences.
Some zombies are raised. Others must be put down. Just ask Anita Blake. Before now, she would have considered them merely off-putting, never dangerous. Before now, she had never heard of any of them causing human beings to perish in agony. But that’s all changed. Micah’s estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctors whispering about “zombie disease.” Anita makes her living off of zombies—but these aren’t the kind she knows so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes Where will it stop?
Even Anita Blake doesn’t know.
5. [amazon_link id=”1937068447″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Grimm’s Fairy Tales Omnibus[/amazon_link]- Ralph Tedesco, Joe Brusha- $59.99
Experience the uniquely twisted fairy tales from the minds of Joe Brusha and Ralph Tedesco! Follow the heroine Sela as she uses the classic tales of old to lead modern day men and women to the right choices while combating the lure of evil. Collecting issues #1-50 of the hit independent series.
6. [amazon_link id=”0785153942″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero[/amazon_link]- Travis Beacham- $24.99
Don’t miss this exciting sci-fi prequel graphic novel of the highly anticipated Warner Bros. & Legendary motion picture, Pacific Rim directed by Guillermo del Toro! Chronicling the very first time Earth is menaced by incredible monsters known as Kaiju, these inhuman beasts rise from the ocean depths and threaten to extinguish all mankind! Witness the race to develop massive robot fighting machines called Jaegers, each one controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. This action-packed tale features many of the key characters from the film as we follow them in their early careers. Witten by Pacific Rim screenwriter himself, Travis Beacham, and with del Toro’s hands-on supervision, this volume is beautifully illustrated by Sean Chen, Yvel Guichet, and Pericles Junior; inks by Steve Bird and Mark McKenna; and fully painted cover by superstar artist Alex Ross.
7. [amazon_link id=”1401241891″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus[/amazon_link]- Jerry Siegel, Joel Shuster- $75.00
The earliest adventures of Superman, from his 1938 debut through 1940, are collected for the first time together in one massive hardcover. In these early stories, Superman battles social injustice and political corruption, fighting for the common man. Includes the origin of Superman and the first appearances of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.
Friday night, I picked up my copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, after which I was fortunate enough to be entertained by the author, Neil Gaiman, and then get my copy autographed. After getting off work yesterday afternoon, I sat down with nothing on my agenda except to enjoy this tale at my own pace. Even still, the reading didn’t take very long, partially because it’s not a very long book, and partially because it flows so well. Length notwithstanding, it left enough of an impact that I didn’t want to dive directly into my review; I wanted to spend a little more time letting my mind wander around the novel’s world, and get a better sense of it all.
According to Mr. Gaiman, this novel originated as a short story for his wife, who usually doesn’t go in for “all that fantasy stuff.” It was intended to be a story about the world as he saw it when he was a small child, and that still remains; most of the story is told from the perspective of our unnamed narrator when he was a seven-year-old. The more the author worked on the piece though, the longer it became; he writes everything by hand, and was still convinced it was just at “novella” status until he typed it up. Then, in his own words: “I sent a very surprised email to my editor with the subject line, ‘I appear to have written a novel’.”
The end result was a work that is chock-full of “that fantasy stuff,” but deals with it from the perspective of a young boy who is dealing with the struggles of growing up (his parents’ financial woes, a few untimely deaths, bookworm loneliness, etc) every bit as much as he is dealing with strange creatures from other worlds. More than once was I reminded of my own childhood, which was lived as much inside books (any I could get my hands on) and within my own version of the world (complete with talking orcas and velociraptors) as it was in what adults like to call the “real world.”
The main thrust of the novel begins with our narrator meeting a young girl named Lettie Hempstock, who lives on a farm down the lane form his house with her mother (Mrs. Hempstock) and grandmother (Old Mrs. Hempstock); think the three fates (youth, adulthood, and old age) but with a fair amount of old European witchcraft and nature worship thrown into the mix. The three of them are concerned by strange happenings in the area, and this only deepens when our narrator receives a silver shilling from within a dream in “a most uncomfortable fashion,” as Neil put it during the reading.
Lettie sets out to find the cause of the disturbance and takes our protagonist with her, and what follows is an adventure that any imaginative child would be very familiar with: strange plants grow deep within forests; rows of tails like corn line fields where the Hempstocks “get cats the normal way”; children’s songs and nursery rhymes hold great power; and ancient things without form lurk under dark skies. The sense of childlike wonder is very real, as is the fear and frustration of knowing something vitally important and being worried that adults won’t believe you; or worse, that they’ll be angry and somehow think the bad things are your fault. It also deals with the inevitable transience of childhood loves and friendships, such as the sting of saying goodbye to a friend met at camp in an era before cell phones and social media.
The novel is book-ended by narration from the protagonist on a return trip to his home town, which is why these old thoughts and memories are stirring. I found these parts of the novel especially difficult, mainly because they evoke a sense of change that grows in my adult heart and mind with each passing year. When the narrator finally returns to the “ocean” – a duck pond at the rear of the Hempstock property – his adult self finds little more than a muddy pond. I can’t help but remember how huge and full of adventure my grandparent’s backyard seemed when I was a child; the last time I saw it, while helping my grandmother move out just a few years ago, it seemed heart-breakingly small and ephemeral.
I’m not going to give this novel a “score,” nor do I know that I will ever be able to do so with any book review I write. I dislike it enough with games and movies, but I can still dredge up a number; that just feels wrong with books. What I will say is that if you ever lost yourself in an afternoon of imagination as a child, [amazon_link id=”B009NFHF0Q” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Ocean at the End of the Lane[/amazon_link] is probably the closest you’ll come to getting to do it as a “grown-up.” Just remember that some things, once they are opened, can’t ever be closed again; and some things, once lost, may never be found in this life.
Last night, I was lucky enough to attend the DC event for Neil Gaiman‘s reading / signing tour for his brand-new novel,[amazon_link id=”B009NFHF0Q” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] The Ocean at the End of the Lane[/amazon_link]. It was presented by the Politics & Prose bookstore, and was held at the GW Lisner Auditorium.
The first thing I can tell you was that the place was PACKED; just in case anyone was under the impression Neil had faded into the background, let me rectify that belief for you right now. There were 1000+ people, all carrying various works ranging from Sandman trades to Coraline, American Gods to Doctor Who shooting scripts. There was even a rather awesome, rather creepy Neil Gaiman Muppet, which he declined to pose with because he was “certain it would end up being some bizarre meme.”
That statement right there should tell you all you need to know about his personality, but I’ll throw in a few of my favorite parts as well. He discussed being bad with feelings, because he is both male and British; he revealed that working on Doctor Who was, in a word, “fun”; he told a charming tale about working with Harlan Ellison on a collaborative piece, which after many years and two writing sessions at conventions has been whittled down from five pages to a much more manageable three pages; and he lamented a lost short story that never saw completion because he was trying to write it in a journal a fan hand-made for him, only to discover that fountain pens and paper containing rose petals are incompatible.
He also did a reading from the novel, which was one of the most wonderful things I have ever experienced. Not wanting to only read the same first chapter during this entire tour, he instead read from the fourth chapter, which no one else had gotten to hear him do yet. Although, “read” is maybe not the correct word, since it was more akin to being told a story by someone who had been telling it for a long time, and yet never gotten bored with the telling. I can say that the experience left me even more convinced that he is just some aspect of Dream of the Endless; I mean, just look at the resemblance!
For those who are interested, the audiobook is actually read by Gaiman himself; after last night, I am certain I will find the time to experience it this way at some point. I gave the novel my full attention this afternoon, and am both pleased and saddened to say I have already finished it. A full review will be forthcoming this week, but I urge you to pick up a copy at the first opportunity. As for myself, I’m going to gets tarted on my favorite piece of advice from last night: When asked if he had anything useful to tell up-and-coming authors who wanted to make a living from it, his response was simply “Write things, and then sell them to people.”
1. [amazon_link id=”0544115899″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Fall of Arthur[/amazon_link]- J.R.R. Tolkien- $25
The Fall of Arthur, the only venture by J.R.R. Tolkien into the legends of Arthur King of Britain, may well be regarded as his finest and most skilful achievement in the use of the Old English alliterative metre, in which he brought to his transforming perceptions of the old narratives a pervasive sense of the grave and fateful nature of all that is told: of Arthur’s expedition overseas into distant heathen lands, of Guinevere’s flight from Camelot, of the great sea-battle on Arthur’s return to Britain, in the portrait of the traitor Mordred, in the tormented doubts of Lancelot in his French castle.
Unhappily, The Fall of Arthur was one of several long narrative poems that he abandoned in that period. In this case he evidently began it in the earlier nineteen-thirties, and it was sufficiently advanced for him to send it to a very perceptive friend who read it with great enthusiasm at the end of 1934 and urgently pressed him ‘You simply must finish it!’ But in vain: he abandoned it, at some date unknown, though there is some evidence that it may have been in 1937, the year of the publication of The Hobbit and the first stirrings of The Lord of the Rings. Years later, in a letter of 1955, he said that ‘he hoped to finish a long poem on The Fall of Arthur’; but that day never came.
The Resurrectionist offers two extraordinary books in one. The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life. The second book is Black’s magnum opus: The Codex Extinct Animalia, a Gray’s Anatomy for mythological beasts—dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus—all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman. The Resurrectionist tells his story.
3. [amazon_link id=”1613776128″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Star Trek: The John Byrne Collection[/amazon_link]- John Byrne- $49.99
Comics legend John Byrne has taken on 4 Star Trek titles, and they are all collected here, in one oversized hardcover collection. “Assignment Earth” recounts the adventures of interstellar agent Gary Seven, “Crew” recounts a tale from the very beginnings of the United Federation of Planets, “Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor” is a collection of tales from the member of the Frontier Medics Program, and mystery, intrigue, and war abound in “Romulans.”
4. [amazon_link id=”0425264181″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The City[/amazon_link]- Stella Gemmell- $26.95
In the center of the City lives the emperor. Few have ever seen him, but those who have recall a man in his prime, though he should be very old. Some grimly speculate that he is no longer human, if he ever was. A small number have come to the desperate conclusion that the only way to stop the war is to end the emperor’s unnaturally long life.
From the mazelike sewers below the City, where the poor struggle to stay alive in the dark, to the blood-soaked fields of battle, where few heroes manage to endure the never-ending siege, the rebels pin their hopes on one man—Shuskara. The emperor’s former general, he was betrayed long ago and is believed to be dead. But, under different aliases, he has survived, forsaking his City and hiding from his immortal foe. Now the time has come for him to engage in one final battle to free the City from the creature who dwells at its heart, pulling the strings that keep the land drenched in gore.
Confused and disoriented, Georgina Ferrars awakens in a small room in Tregannon House, a private asylum in a remote corner of England. She has no memory of the past few weeks. The doctor, Maynard Straker, tells her that she admitted herself under the name Lucy Ashton the day before, then suffered a seizure. When she insists he has mistaken her for someone else, Dr. Straker sends a telegram to her uncle, who replies that Georgina Ferrars is at home with him in London: “Your patient must be an imposter.”
Suddenly her voluntary confinement becomes involuntary. Who is the woman in her uncle’s house? And what has become of her two most precious possessions, a dragonfly pin left to her by her mother and a writing case containing her journal, the only record of those missing weeks? Georgina’s perilous quest to free herself takes us from a cliffside cottage on the Isle of Wight to the secret passages of Tregannon House and into a web of hidden family ties on which her survival depends.
Now this may not be news to everyone, but it’s definitely exciting for me. I’ve never read the Lord of the Rings trilogy — I’ve heard too many complaints about its structure and detail and painstakingly slow progress. As such, I’m satisfied with the movies alone.
However, apparently one man, Russian scientist Kirill Yeskov, believed that the books were poorly written — not because of their length and detail, but because of their lack of detail. According to him, “Middle Earth has several built-in physical defects” in its interpretation of nature, such as improper considerations for continent structure and solar system activity. He even criticizes more basic concepts like the fact that Tolkien never discussed the monetary systems of the various societies.
In this translated essay, Dr. Yeskov discusses the reasons for his criticism, as well as his ultimate (and successful) goal: to retell the story in a more realistic and scientifically accurate manner, with an entirely new book, titled The Last Ring-Bearer. “It is of a dual nature,” Yeskov says, “I bow before Demiurge Tolkien who had created an amazing Universe, but am rather cool toward Tolkien the Storyteller, author of the tale of four Hobbits and their quest.”
A translated version of Yeskov’s book can be downloaded for free here. I do not plan to read it since I do not even have an original reading of Tolkien’s text to compare it to, but I am interested to know how his story varies. I, for one, never considered the scientific implications of Middle Earth; I simply enjoyed the franchise for what it appeared to be. In my experience, I have learned that criticism and speculation are often more harmful than beneficial — if you look at the details too closely, you lose the big picture altogether (as well as your enjoyment of it). But I nonetheless find Yeskov’s argument interesting and new, and so I am intrigued.
It would seem that Peter Jackson has resumed filming the Hobbit. Personally, I’m happy for this new development. Jackson’s decision to split the franchise into 3 movies was ill-received; much of his audience seems to believe that a trilogy will only drag the series out with long and unimportant scenes. But hopefully this additional footage will change that.
Not to mention, this almost guarantees future extended editions, which I can certainly appreciate (To a certain extent, that is — at least until a so-called ‘friend’ proposes a marathon…at which point I will kindly excuse myself from the vicinity and carve the lyrics of “One Week” into my arm with a shattered dvd while listening to a tape where the sound of children’s laughter slowly turns to screams of pain, all while eating shattered glass with a side of hydraulic fluid. No really, ask me how I feel about movie marathons.).
Game of Thrones producer Frank Doelger recently revealed a (very) rough timeline for GoT, predicting that it will continue for four more seasons, concluding with seven in total.
We’ve already been told that book three will be divided between seasons three and four, which immediately poses a problem. Seven books are expected to complete the series, but that suggests at least one season will contain two or more books. Now I haven’t read the books, and so I do not know the plausibility of such a decision, but it seems rather premature to state that seven seasons will be the limit. I guess that’s why it’s a rough timeline and not a final decision.
