Review Category: Books

Book Review: Exploring 3D: The New Grammar of Stereoscopic Film Making / Authors: Adrian Pennington, Carolyn Giardina / Publisher: Focal Press / Release Date: Out Now

Love it or hate it, (and we know which side the most vocal are on) 3D continues to be utilised in cinema and increasingly on TV. This interesting book takes the form of a series of interviews with leading figures in the industry who are pushing the boundaries of the technology. Animators, producers and directors such as Martin Scorsese, whose Hugo showed how well the format could be used, all give insight into what makes a great stereo film. Avoiding such conversion disasters such as Clash of the Titans, the book focuses on IMAX and native 3D techniques and films.

It’s inadvertently up to date as it covers Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, release of which was pushed back until 2013, and there are lengthy sections on live broadcasts such as concerts and sporting events.

Despite the colourful cover (an image from How to Train a Dragon), there is nothing in the book to entertain the casual reader let alone younger ones. Not even any old school anaglyph photos to view with cardboard glasses. No, instead, all the stills are presented flat and we have to imagine the effect. Not that including them would help, because if you’re not interested in negative parallax or depth scripts then they’ll be very little to keep you turning the page.

It’s an incredibly dry read, suited to those with an interest in the technical side of the business rather than entertainment, but it you have an interest, it’s worth a look.

For some reason I doubt it will be on Mark Kermode’s Christmas list.

Book Review: The Paladin Prophecy / Author: Mark Frost / Publisher: Doubleday Childrens / Release Date: Out Now

Mark Frost will forever be renowned as co-creator of Twin Peaks, but he was also scriptwriter on those forgettable Fantastic Four movies, and it’s in the same blithely commercial vein that he has penned The Paladin Prophecy, the first book in a YA action trilogy with sci-fi and fantasy trimmings. Think of an all-American Harry Potter minus the wand, mixed with a healthy dollop of the X-Men, and you’ll be halfway there.

The hero is 15-year-old Will West. Warned by his parents never to draw attention to himself, he absentmindedly aces a test and receives an offer of a full scholarship to an exclusive and venerable prep school snappily entitled The Centre for Integrated Learning. Unfortunately, his academic achievement has also caught the eye of some mysterious heavies in black suits, who body snatch his mother and set ferocious critters on him.

Barely escaping with his life thanks to Dave, a hot-rod-driving Kiwi who is his unlikely guardian angel, Will heads for the school, where he quickly finds himself embroiled in a mystery that could result in the destruction of mankind, not to mention a flurry of detentions.

You can’t help but notice a number of Hogwarts echoes (an elaborate school crest, tasty dinners and a charismatic headmaster with a fondness for putting his pupils in harm’s way to name but a few). But the Centre also has a weirdly fascistic subtext that’s all its own. Supposedly a training ground for America’s future leaders, the school confiscates the kids’ mobile phones and laptops and stops them from accessing the Internet, whilst giving them hawkish seminars on ‘Power and Realpolitik’. Hmm, no wonder so many presidential candidates have such a glazed look in their eyes…

Quel surprise that this place boasts more than its fair share of cloddish bullies and bad voodoo. Luckily, Will is no pushover, possessing as he does an array of special abilities – super-speed, super-cleverness, Obi-Wan Kenobi mind control powers, and a spot of telekinesis. He also enlists the help of some similarly gifted friends – Ajay (tech guy with a photographic memory) and Nick (karate skills and Ron Weasley-ish wisecracks). Plus there are two smart-talking girls, Brooke and Elise, but they very sensibly never seem to be around when the action happens.

Turning pages bursting with sci-fi gadgets, nasty creepy-crawlies and manic set-pieces, you can just picture the summer blockbuster this book longs to be. Maybe for that reason, it’s a somewhat flavourless, over-packaged experience. Still, it slips down easily enough, due to some lively verbal sparring among the five main characters, and there’s nothing like reading about life in a prestigious boarding school to make you grateful for going to a comprehensive.

Book Review: Too Much Horror Business / Author: Kirk Hammett, Steffan Chirazi / Publisher: Abrams Image / Release Date: Out Now

A lot of us, when we hit wage earning age, set about using our new found ‘wealth’ to either buy back our childhood – all those toys thrown out by unsympathetic parents – or start a collection of the things we’re passionate about. When Kirk Hammett, guitarist with famed American rockers Metallica, started earning a crust strumming his guitar he set his sights on horror movie memorabilia.

Over the course of the 200+ heavily illustrated, glossy colour pages this hardback tome allows us into Hammett’s private collection, allegedly one of the biggest in the world. There are film posters from all over the world, lobby cards, props and games as well as original artwork from the likes of Basil Gogos (Famous Monsters of Filmland). Films from as far back as the silent era (Dr Caligari, etc…) to the Universal Monster series, Sci-Fi classics like Invasion of the Saucermen and more recent fare such as Hellraiser all have a place in the guitarist’s collection.

In amongst the lavish photographs, there are a number of Q&A style interviews, in which Kirk goes into detail about his passion, and the collecting scene in general and how cut throat it can be.
Towards the back of the book is one of his prized possessions, a copy of the ‘30s Dracula stage play script, hand annotated by Bela Lugosi himself.

This is a must buy for lovers of classic horror films, poster art and pop culture in general, the section on ‘60s monster toys is enough to make grown men drool.

Be warned, reading this book carries the risk of an outbreak of uncontrollable jealousy, but it’s a small side effect that is more than worth it. Buy it now while it’s still affordable, as this is likely to be a major collector’s item itself in years to come.

Review: Abarat – Absolute Midnight / Author: Clive Barker / Publisher: Harper Collins / Format: Hardcover / Release Date: Out Now

Never one to dumb down to a lowest common denominator audience, Clive Barker’s series of fantasy books for youngsters is no different. Absolute Midnight is the latest entry in Barker’s Abarat series, set in the titular 25-island (one for each hour of the day, plus one extra – like Dave ja Vu or C4+1) archipelago of Abarat.

Absolute Midnight is the third book in the series, picking up immediately as the previous story ends. Sixteen-year-old Candy Quackenbush has narrowly escaped the clutches of Christopher Carrion, the Prince of Midnight. As the title might suggest, it’s the darkest book in the series, often pushing the boundaries for what one might expect from a youths’ book. Where it’s quite common for a series to go ‘darker’ during later entries, it feels entirely organic for Absolute Midnight. It is a Clive Barker book, after all. Like Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland crossed with Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials. Like Harry and Alice, young Candy is an innocent child unexpectedly dragged from her everyday life and thrust into a world of magic, mysticism and untold horror. With the sinister witch Mater Motley threatening to bring total war to Abarat, the stakes have never been higher for poor Candy.

It is possible to follow the story without having read previous instalments, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Barker has created a dense universe here; one best appreciated as a big, glorious whole – like a tapestry. Heroes and villains alike are wonderfully memorable, with such great names as Christopher Carrion and John Mischief. His signature mix of sex and violence may have been toned down greatly, but Barker’s way with words remains as masterful as ever.

If we were to criticise Abarat, it would be from an entirely selfish perspective. The books are great and all, but we can’t help but miss his gorier, more terrifying Books of Blood, his Damnation Game and his Great and Secret Show. Kids these days. Don’t know they’re born.

Review: Treacheries of the Space Marines / Editor: Christian Z Dunn / Publisher: Black Library / Release Date: Out Now

Anthologies are always difficult beasts to review; nine stories by nine different authors, each with their own merits and flaws. Treacheries of the Space Marines does have a common theme, however. It’s about the main villains of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, the Chaos Space Marines. These are ancient super-soldiers who have traded their souls to the forces of hell (or something very similar) without a trace of regret. The protagonists of these stories are all monsters, each devoted to the utter debasement and fall of the human race, and because this is a Warhammer book, the villains are mostly big, loud and grim.

In many ways, Treacheries of the Space Marines is a horror anthology, out in time for Halloween; each of the nine tales contains something that could be described as scary and the editor has clearly decided to go for a different sort of scary in each tale. For example, David Annandale’s story of creeping madness, The Carrion Anthem, is a tale of music gone wrong and is the kind of creeping horror story fans of H.P. Lovecraft would enjoy. It’s a finely paced piece filled with hope, despair, decay and the collapse of the soul. Anthony Reynolds provides a similar, but less ethereal take on the idea with Vox Dominus, which owes a lot to the classic ghost ship stories of the last century, but with a suitably 40K twist.

Meanwhile, Sarah Cawkwell’s Bitter End is a more visceral, splatter-fueled sort of affair. Not only does it feature everybody’s favourite giant killer space pirate, Huron Blackheart, it unleashes a horde of mutant space pirates onto a nunnery. (This is, of course, a world where the nuns are armed with very big guns and powered armour, so it’s more exciting than it sounds.) It’s a loud tale of murder, mayhem and treachery and put me in mind of the better sort of Troma movie. Another example is Matthew Farrer’s The Masters, Bidding; which reminded me strongly of the old Amicus portmanteau movies. We get a collection of very short tales as monstrous beings bid for bag of souls. It’s a fun little tale, with the sort of classic horror vibe that you need to make this sort of collection enjoyable.

The only tale that feels out of place is Aaron Dembski Bowden’s Throne of Lies; it’s a great story, and it’s a nice companion piece to other stories Bowden has written. Fans of his Night Lords series will love it, and though it’s one of the strongest tales in the collection, it feels out of place.

Overall, this is a good collection, but it is very much more of the same. Horror fans and wargaming geeks with a twisted bent who are looking for a quick fix should check it out.

Review: The Hobbits / Author: Lynette Porter / Publisher: I.B.Tauris / Release Date: Out Now

With the world premiere of the first part of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy taking place in November, the publication of this book could hardly be more timely. It aims to present a survey of the ways in which our furry-footed friends have been presented in various media, and to consider what this tells us about the changing face of hobbits over the decades.

It manages the first part very well. As you would expect, a lot of time is devoted to Jackson and to Ralph Bakshi’s well-known part live action, part animated LotR. But, to her credit, Porter also offers lengthy and worthwhile examinations of the Rankin-Bass cartoon versions of The Hobbit and RotK, the BBC’s celebrated 1981 radio broadcast of LotR and popular spoofs such as VeggieTales’ Lord of the Beans. Fans and collectors will also enjoy the section on ’70s Tolkien calendars.

Throughout, Porter is tireless in cataloguing the minutest divergences from Tolkien’s vision, with the underlying assumption that the sine qua non of a good adaptation is that it has to be scrupulously faithful. But there’s little or no attempt to place hobbits in popular culture and show what, if anything, they have meant to succeeding generations. There’s a flat, academic quality to some of Porter’s writing, too, which is unlikely to appeal to a general reader. As a result, this is for diehard Tolkien fans only, or Middle-Earthers in search of ammunition for future chat room debates.

Review: Swords of the Emperor / Author: Chris Wraight / Publisher: Black Library / Release Date: Out Now

Swords of the Emperor is an anthology of two previous fantasy novels; Sword of Justice and Sword of Vengeance, with a couple of short stories thrown in to lure the completest. Both books follow the exploits of high ranking members of the Empire; a medieval civilisation that covers the majority of the Old World. It is beset by orcs, bestial mutants and demonic forces, and every day may be its last.

Both books focus on the exploits of Ludwig Schwarzhelm, a very big man with a very big sword who protects, as well as being part of, the judicial system. (He’s the person you face when you want to face justice.) The first book, Sword of Justice is essentially a series of battle scenes connected by a slim thread of intrigue and suspicion. However, Wraight has a real talent for describing the bloody horror of war, and it’s always fun to dive into a good old fashioned orc hunt. The characters are both fantastic and believable; each hero is nothing of the sort, being instead a regular person in extraordinary circumstances. In a way, the main character is a sort of medieval Judge Dredd; the story and its rich and detailed world revolves around the main protagonist, who is stern, strong, indomitable and unchanging, whilst all around him goes to hell. The author handles the concept of corruption and being taken over by dark forces in an engaging and interesting way.

It would be profoundly unfair to describe Sword of Vengeance as more of the same, but the same mix of intrigue, violence and corruption deliver the same entertainment value as Sword of Justice, and I didn’t even pause from one book to the next. Wraight raises the stakes, adds more twists and turns to the existing story and the two novels really do benefit from being bound under the same cover. Neither of these are subtle stories; they’re fantasy action tales filled with blood and adventure. Some of the extended battle sequences do drag on slightly too long in the second book, but this is more than made up for by the improved character development we also get.

The two additional short stories are fairly short, and one of them (I won’t  spoil it by saying which one) should not be read on an empty stomach. Both are as fast and subtle as a thrown knife, but work well as dessert for the hearty meal which is the first two books. A good solid fantasy adventure for those who like their broadswords and sorcery stories a bit bloody.

Book Review: Ecko Rising / Author: Danie Ware / Publisher: Titan Books / Release Date: Out Now

Like Andy McNab crossed with Deadpool meets Lord of the Rings, only with far more swearing (yes, even more so than an Andy McNab novel), Ecko Rising is the striking debut novel from Danie Ware. Self-confessed geek Ware also works at a certain Forbidden Planet, so we can be assured that her sci-fi and fantasy credentials are sound. On the basis of this work, hers is a voice to listen out for. Even if that voice does eff and blind a lot.

The titular Ecko (the ‘G’ is silent) is a skilful but cynical assassin, gifted with a barbed tongue and genetically modified body. Actually, the tongue isn’t just barbed – Ecko can even breathe a little bit of fire. During what seems like a routine reconnaissance mission (or whatever passes for routine in Ecko’s shiny sci-fi world, anyway), Ecko is almost killed. He awakens in a strange new world seemingly ripped from the pages of many a fantasy novel. Unsure whether this place is a construct of his own unstable mind or a creation of his adversary, Doctor Grey, Ecko must struggle to survive, escape and save the day too. It might be the anti-hero’s first outing, but Ware certainly doesn’t give the poor fellow an easy ride.

Ecko Rising is an admirably ambitious genre-bending novel, bringing us a memorable character in Ecko – likeable despite his flaws – and world(s) we can’t wait to see more of. Ware’s writing style is a joy to read, incredibly technical but personable and fun too, sounding delightfully English (in the same sort of manner as The Thick of It, if you catch my effing drift). If I hadn’t been already, I was truly in love with Ecko Rising by the time the sentence “ain’t exactly Minas fucking Tirith, is it?” was uttered. Like its main character, it delivers brilliant filth with heart. There’s a lot packed into the book, and some will baulk at just how dense Ware’s worlds seem to be; but most should appreciate what is a genuinely impressive exercise in world-building.

Ecko Rising ends with the promise of a sequel. On the basis of this very memorable piece of work, long may Ecko rise.

Book Review: The Change: Orbital / Author: Guy Adams / Publisher: Endeaver Press / Release Date: Out Now (eBook only)

You may have known that novelist Guy Adams has The Army Of Doctor Moreau out, and you may have known about his new Sherlock behind-the-scenes book, but odds are good that you probably didn’t know about his new eBook, The Change.

Ah yes, the Change. Taking place over a period of four minutes, it sees the world running riot with Lovecraftian nightmares (actually, to refer to them as Lovecraftian nightmares is a bit of a misnomer – they really should be nightmares for any normal person as well). Once the Change is over, people just try and get by. Naturally, the best way to do this is to take to motorbikes and colonise the M25 (now referred to as The Perimeter, a detail easily missed on the first read) and the service stations that run along it.

We are introduced to this world through the eyes of an amnesiac named Howard Philips (named in honour of the master of horror himself – although it’s not entirely clear if that is actually his name), who has to deal with crazed birds, tentacle monstrosities made flesh with his thoughts and premonitions of what’s to come.

At 95 pages, this isn’t exactly an epic doorstopper book on the scale of Lord Of The Rings, the Harry Potter series or The Dilbert Principle, but Adams doesn’t need a huge page count. With this book, he’s proven that he can craft a tale on the same par as his other excellent books.

Thank God this is the first of an ongoing series, because one thing this book does is throw up a lot of questions. How did the Change happen? What’s London got to do with it? Who was Howard Philips before the Change? And why, in the name of Lovecraft, are finned dogs hunting in the Thames? We can’t wait to find out.

Book Review: Salvation’s Reach / Author: Dan Abnett / Publisher: Black Library / Release Date: Out Now (Hardback), October 25th (Paperback)

Gaunt’s Ghosts is perhaps Dan Abnett’s best known and most long running series, featuring the brave Commisar Gaunt and his unit of almost-heroes, The Ghosts. The world of Warhammer 40,000 is one filled with over-sized super soldiers, and one of the appeals of the series is that it details the adventures of humble Imperial Guardsmen; everyday human beings who have been thrust into the theatre of galaxy spanning warfare with no real expectation of survival. However, given that Salvation’s Reach is the thirteenth in the series, some of them have made it this far, though one of the pleasures of Abnett’s writing is that you can never tell.

Though the series has gone beyond its initial “Sharpe in space” premise, it still continues to be a tale of peril, heroism and surviving in a hostile galaxy amongst impossible odds. Salvation’s Reach is especially grim; the titular location is a heavily fortified enemy base and the odds of anyone actually getting out alive are slim. As always with these novels, it’s fun to try and work actually who will live to fight another day, and Abnett loves to tease the reader. Just because a character gets an interesting bit of backstory, or is the focus of the more domestic aspects of the 40K universe doesn’t mean they’ll survive to the end of the book. The focus on some of the mundane parts of life are especially well handled; there may only be war in the grim darkness of the 41^st millennium, but people still love, argue, have doubts, get drunk and go shopping. We also get a glimpse of life in the Imperial Navy, but alas, only a glimpse, which is a real shame as it’s always nice to have the big spaceships go boom. There’s a great gag at the start about the way war is done in this setting, and it’s well observed as well as quite funny.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this latest episode, and enough hope handed out to some of the heroes to make you fear for what will happen next to them. There are also some great nods to previous parts of the series, some grim foreshadowing and some lovely shout-outs to other parts of the setting. Abnett fans will probably already have this pre-ordered, and if you’ve enjoyed any of the previous Gaunt’s Ghosts books, then prepare to be delighted in this latest instalment in what is essentially a soap opera with las-rifles and war. Those new to the series should really start with the first in the series, available in a collected anthology called The Founding.