Review Category: Books

DOCTOR WHO – ENGINES OF WAR  

If anyone was expecting to find out how the War Doctor grew from the fresh-faced John Hurt we caught a glimpse of at the end of Night of the Doctor into the grizzled warrior we saw in Name of the Doctor and Day of the Doctor, they will be sadly disappointed. This novel, the latest from the author of several Sherlock Holmes novels and the Newbury and Hobbes series, shows the short lead-up to the specific choice (the moment, if you will) that made the Doctor decide to end the Time War. And it’s as predictable as that sounds.

For a product of a series that has shown us time and time again that time can be rewritten (even while it says it can’t), the plot of this book has a depressing inevitability about it. From the minute we first meet the Doctor’s new companion, we know almost exactly how the whole thing’s going to turn out, what will cause him to serve notice on both combatants. We can’t help but feel that what Mann really wanted to focus on was the minutiae of the Time War and if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.

We get answers to mysteries such as what the Skaro Degradations were (the answer is both plausible and vile) and how exactly you fight a Time War. The probability engine (though not an object previously mentioned on the show) in particular really conveys how insane Rassilon is, so kudos to Mann for that. His characters feel very true to the established portrayals; most of the Doctor’s lines read like they could have come from John Hurt himself and though Cinder has never appeared on the show we get a strong sense of the kind of person she is.

The story’s predictability let it down somewhat, but if you’re the kind of person who lets the well-paced story lead them without thinking ahead, then this book is probably for you. We’ll almost certainly be reading it again in any case, which is more than we can say for some Who novels of the last few years.

INFO: AUTHOR: GEORGE MANN / PUBLISHER: BBC BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: JUNE 18TH 

THE ART AND MAKING OF HANNIBAL: THE TELEVISION SERIES

There have been times with Hannibal where it has been a victim of style over substance with some of its episodes. That said though, when your style looks as good as it does in Hannibal, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So with this in mind, it’s with great anticipation that you pick up a copy of The Art and Making of Hannibal. The cover is wonderfully enticing; a clean white cover with a bloody heart on a plate. It’s gruesome, classy and oddly beautiful to look at. It’s a shame then that the actual content of the book is more “making of” than “art of”.

For the most part, the “making of” stuff is pretty standard affair, with behind the scenes photos and stills from episodes. All of them feel posed rather than like they have caught a candid on set moment. This being a book about Hannibal, they don’t shy away from the murders depicted in the series and fill the book with plenty of lingering shots on many of the series more gory deaths.

Jesse McClean has put together a pretty comprehensive book on the making of the series, incorporating interviews with the cast and crew, profiles of the characters, set design maps and more. There are a couple of interesting bits about the series hidden in this, but the whole thing reads a little like a publicity interview for the series, rather than an in depth making of.

That said, if you’re a fan of just the series, this book probably has everything you could want and more. For me, as a fan of the franchise as a whole, the book barely acknowledges the previous movie adaptations of Thomas Harris’ novels and it’s an oversight that left me wanting more from the book. Admittedly it is probably unfair to knock a book about the Hannibal TV Series for not covering the previous films, but given the influence they have clearly had on elements of the series, it would’ve been nice to at least acknowledge them.

INFO: THE ART AND MAKING OF HANNIBAL: THE TELEVISION SERIES / AUTHOR: JESSE MCLEAN / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

UNOFFICIAL DOCTOR WHO: THE BIG BOOK OF LISTS

Running at just over 250 pages, this Unofficial Doctor Who: The Big Book of Lists may not be the biggest book of Doctor Who goodness ever produced, but it is certainly up there among the very best.

Cameron K. McEwan (aka Blogtor Who) has written this book by drawing on the many lists on his blog. He has arrived at one hundred sets of information of interest to fans of the show. They are far more than simple tabulations of fact, but quirky sets of information grouped sufficiently to give structure, but not so as to limit the creative flow of the book as a whole. There are themes (such as companions, storylines, and toys) and quizzes disguised as lists. Some lists are just that, some are mini-essays around a set of stories or some other theme. The whole book echoes the writing style of Cameron’s blog and if you’ve ever dipped into his postings there, or read his previous Who’s Who of Doctor Who, you will know what to expect.

This is not only a set of lists; it is also a gloriously illustrated book. Andrew Skilleter, has been involved with Doctor Who for 35 years, and among many, many book covers and calendars  created the Five Doctors cover for the Radio Times. In this Big Book are dozens of examples of his work including the Doctors, companions, the TARDIS and the odd villain. As a whole this is an unbeatable creation and the book is great for dipping into or even sitting down for a good browse.

This really is a faultless piece of work, and is unhesitatingly recommended for any fan or student of the show. Unmissable.

INFO: AUTHOR: CAMERON K. MCEWAN / ILLUSTRATOR: ANDREW SKILLETER / PUBLISHER: RACE POINT PUBLISHING / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

STAR WARS EPIC YARNS: A NEW HOPE, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, RETURN OF THE JEDI
(sold separately) 

So, here we have three cute, chunky items published by Lucas Books (that is Lucasfilms’ own publishing branch and not the East Anglian independent book shop – good luck, John!), and they are quite unlike anything else in their catalogue to date.

Star Wars Epic Yarns are, simply, the three original Star Wars films as uniquely interpreted by British Columbian-bred twin brothers, Jack and Holman Wang. The Wang brothers bill themselves, modestly,  as ‘writers, illustrators, fiber (sic) artists, dads’ but they also have, crucially, a bachelor degree in education and a professorship in English between them and it is this odd combination of self-taught skills and extensive formal learning that brought them to the public’s eye when, around 2012, under the collective title of Cozy Classics, they decided to retell nine of the most iconic books of our time in the particular style of theirs that has earned them a number of accolades, not least of which has been the invitation, this year, to redesign Google’s logo in celebration of the birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder – author of Little House on The Prairie.

Any parent will instantly recognise the chunky, square format and thick, cardboard page style of these books as belonging to those directed at preschool and primary-school aged children and so it is with this trilogy. As with the Cozy Classics that went before them – Brothers Wang have designed these books as educational tools for children employing there, by now, familiar ’12-word-primer’ concept; that is – the entire story told, chronologically, with just twelve words and twelve accompanying pictures; and here we come to the crux of the matter, that is, the illustrations themselves. Quite how Jack ‘n’ Holman, with their apparent abundance of responsibilities and commitments, have found time to teach themselves the finer nuances of Needle-Felt-Sculpting remains an enduring mystery but, apparently, they have and to great effect. The illustrations herein are exquisite reproductions of scenes from the beloved movies; with meticulously rendered backgrounds and tenderly sculpted characters, they evoke the naïvety and optimism that must have prevailed during the making of these ground-breaking sci-fi films.

Whether or not these books will serve their grandiose purpose as educational tools for our future generation remains something of a moot point since they will seldom be bought for that purpose. But as bookshelf condiments and trivial genre accompaniments and at their reasonable price any fan of George Lucas’ most celebrated work should include these books in their collections.

INFO: AUTHORS: HOLMAN WANG, JACK WANG / PUBLISHER: CHRONICLE BOOKS, LUCAS BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

THE NEW FLESH: 21ST CENTURY HORROR FILMS A-Z VOL. 1

If you’re old enough to remember a time before the Internet, when to find out details of any given film involved trawling through the pages of a Maltin or Halliwell book – then finding that those esteemed tomes didn’t actually feature the obscure ‘70s Spanish film that you needed to know the director of – then this book will bring many memories flooding back.

In this fabulously packed book, Willis (a main contributor to the Sex Gore Mutants website) manages to review and list virtually every major horror film from the past fifteen years, plus a score of lesser known titles. Since the turn of the millennium, horror has had something of a renaissance and has become an even more accessible genre for fledgling filmmakers. As such, the proliferation of low budget films has made it even harder to keep up with the trends.

In this first volume of reviews, we cover such obvious fare as Let the Right One In (2008), Paranormal Activity (2007) and Saw (2004) among others, but it’s the lesser known movies that are of most interest. No matter how much your finger is on the pulse of horror these days, there’s always an indie film that slips through the net (umm… on the net?). So while controversial flicks like Murder-Set-Pieces (2004), August Underground (2001), Scrapbook (2000) and A Serbian Film (2010) – the latter dissected in a refreshingly non-hipster fashion – all have their place, there’s room for completely unknown films such as Empire of the Apes (2013), Fantacide (2007) and Twink (2014)  – one of several films by British director Jason Impey included. The entries are quite up-to-date also, with The Babadook, Nurse 3D and Bad Milo! all making the list.

Rather than give ratings for the films, Willis provides concise and often very funny thoughts, in a simple, well-written manner. It’s by no means in-depth, but that isn’t the intention. It’s more a collection of notes and observations on the movies. This makes the book very easy to dip in and out of, but you’re not going to be able to blag your way through any given film’s plot points down the pub from reading it. You will, however, possibly get a few pointers of which movies to seek out and the ones to avoid.

INFO: THE NEW FLESH: 21ST CENTURY HORROR FILMS A-Z VOL. 1 / AUTHOR: STUART WILLIS / PUBLISHER:  CREATESPACE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING PLATFORM / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

THE NIGHT MAYOR

Kim Newman’s 1989 novel The Night Mayor is the latest to be reissued by Titan Books and, while it may not have grabbed attention the way his Anno Dracula series has, it’s a book that has aged very well indeed. Add to this a further four short stories written around the same period, and it’s quite an impressive package.

In the type of near future that was popular with writers at the time, and feels increasingly possible a quarter of a century later, virtual reality scenarios known as Dreams are the primary form of entertainment. When Truro Daine escapes imprisonment, he downloads himself into a Dream of his own creation, a city where it’s always 2:30am and raining, populated by characters and actors from film noir. It’s up to professional Dreamers Tom Tunney and Susan Bishopric to not only track Daines down, but to stop themselves merging into the adventures themselves.

Written with Newman’s usual panache, The Night Mayor is a cracking read from start to finish, evoking the hard-boiled detective movies of the 1940s and 50s, complete with gangsters, strange cultists and a car chase in the final act. It’s a story that’s lovingly crafted, with the author respectfully using the clichés of the genre to his advantage as well as adding a few surprises of his own. Anyone who knows the true identity of Jack Yeovil will appreciate the way he treats the character, who also spills over into one of the short stories. They add to Newman’s vision of the future – and in this age of blockbuster reboots, it may not be too far from the truth – each delivering a satisfying sting in the tail.

For greedy readers, there’s one small disappointment; the book is devoid of any author notes, the like of which brought fascinating insight to the Anno Dracula books as well as providing glimpses of Newman’s creative process. They’re the literary equivalent of a director’s commentary which, given the themes of this book, would have made an excellent addition to the text. Still, The Night Mayor is hugely entertaining, and perhaps there’s even more fun to be had in rereading and trying to guess who’s who.

INFO: THE NIGHT MAYOR / AUTHOR: KIM NEWMAN / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

PRINCES OF THE APOCALYPSE

Giving the latest Dungeons and Dragons books the sort of review they deserve is a daunting prospect. For a gaming supplement to be any good, it can’t just be a good read, it also has to work well on the table top and be worth the time of both the Dungeon Master and the players. Thus far, all of the books for the fifth edition of the game have been staggeringly good, and Princes of the Apocalypse is no exception.

Inspired by the classic Temple of Elemental Evil adventure, Princes is not just a straightforward adventure. Rather it’s a collection of resources, ideas and inspiration that can either be played straight or tinkered with endlessly to suit the needs of your campaign. Though non-linear in structure, the various scenarios are well structured and thought out. What begins as a simple investigation of a missing person slowly but surely spins out into a series of rather epic dungeons crawls. We found that no matter how awkward the players, there was always something in the book that let you get the plot back on track without making it feel too forced.

As stories go, it’s your typical ‘hoard of evil lunatics’ plot, with an elemental twist and nicely diverse band of horrible things for the players to fight. The book also includes a new playable race; the Genasi, a whole pile of new spells and plenty of magic items. The main scenario makes the (entirely reasonable) assumption that you’re running a Forgotten Realms campaign. Luckily, for those of you who like their fantasy worlds a bit more interesting, they are also extensive notes on how to adapt the scenario to any of the other established Dungeons and Dragons settings. In addition, the book contains suggestions on how to fit it into your home brew game.

It’s as pretty and as well laid out as you’d expect from a Wizards of the Coast product; Dungeons and Dragons is no longer a sanctuary for dull and clichéd fantasy art; rather it serves as a showcase as to how these things should be done. Yet again, Fifth Edition D&D has knocked it out of the park, and we hope that the standard remains just as high in the years to come.

INFO: PRINCES OF THE APOCALYPSE / AUTHOR: WIZARDS RPG TEAM / PUBLISHER: WIZARDS OF THE COAST / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 

THE AWESOME

The Awesome introduces us to Maggie Cunningham, a typical teenage girl with unusual career aspirations. Like many young women, Maggie has concerns about finding a boyfriend, qualifying for the exams she wants to do and isn’t sure if she can make friends easily. The twist is that she wants to go into the ‘family business’; monster hunting.

If you believe the blurb on the back of the book, The Awesome is about a girl who needs to lose her cherry in order to go vampire hunting. You see, bloodsuckers go nuts for virgin blood, so in order to get her journeyman’s license, she needs to do the nasty. Though this is indeed an element of the story, it simply isn’t that tawdry. Maggie is a clever and savvy young girl who has had a tough (if very exciting) life so far, and The Awesome is more a coming of age novel about someone going through multiple rites of passage in order to become the person they want to be.

Darrows writes in an easy, free-flowing sort of style. It’s all told from Maggie’s point of view and the main character is very likeable. Maggie’s mom is also a lot of fun and the plot hinges on this mother/daughter relationship. As you might imagine, monster hunting is not a role for the more stable sort of person, so the dialogue between these two is very entertaining. The author has also drawn heavily on the whole range of Urban Fantasy fiction out there. We can see more than a hint of the TV series Supernatural running throughout the book and the World of Darkness series is also clearly an inspiration.

With any luck, The Awesome will be the start of a great new series. Certainly they are enough plot threads left dangling to make for a sequel, and it would be nice to follow Maggie’s career (and her love life) a bit more closely. The Awesome does what it sets out to, and if you like Urban Fantasy, then you should give it a look.

INFO: THE AWESOME / AUTHOR: EVA DARROWS / PUBLISHER: RAVENSTONE / RELEASE DATE: MAY 7TH

STAR WARS: LORDS OF THE SITH

Star Wars books are enjoying a revival of sorts. Disney’s takeover of the franchise has led to a fresh start for the series. This also means that decades worth of continuity can now be safely ignored, making this an ideal time to jump aboard.

Those expecting a bold new direction will be disappointed, however. Lords of the Sith plays it pretty safe, adding nothing terribly new to the world of Star Wars. The tale is set between Revenge of The Sith and A New Hope. Vader and the Emperor are the true power in the galaxy and the Empire is on the rise. For the people of the planet Ryloth, this is very bad news. The native Twi’leks have been made into slaves by the Emperor, forced to serve in the spice mines or elsewhere. The seeds of rebellion have begun on this world; a well organised and clever team of freedom fighters have slowly been making headway.

All this goes awry when the good guys learn that both Vader and his Master are coming to Ryloth.  Refusing to pass up a chance to end the Empire with a single stroke, the team throw all their engines against the bad guys. The result is a series of hunting stories, with the Rebels becoming more and more desperate to end the reign of the Sith.

They are some nice moments throughout this. Kemp is an old hand when it comes to all things Star Wars and he gets the master and apprentice relationship very well indeed. There is a nice mix between action and drama, and though Vader is hardly the most complicated of villains, he is handled with respect. The book also features The Emperor gleefully kicking ass, which is a rare pleasure. We know the Sith aren’t going to die, but that doesn’t matter. It’s still fun.

Despite being nothing particular new or unique, Lords of the Sith is fun addition to the new range of Star Wars stories. It will do for now whilst we wait for The Force Awakens come to our screens, though it is nothing more than just another Star Wars story.

INFO: AUTHOR: PAUL S. KEMP / PUBLISHER: CENTURY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW