A Savage War Of Peace by Christopher Nuttall

A Savage War Of Peace by Christopher Nuttall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Savage War of Peace continues the story of the planet Vesy and it's indigenous population who are being caught between some of the major powers of Earth along with fringe elements who claim to know what is best for this species. Britain left a presence on the world before the Warspite returned to Earth and that camp soon becomes overwhelmed with the influx of ships and people many of who have no real interest in allowing the British forces to dictate terms of occupancy. The Indian fleet establishes their own base and opens negotiations directly with other city states and the almost inevitable sequence of events is kicked off as this culture is destabilized even more so than before when only Russian deserters were in system.
This second novel of the second "Ark Royal" trilogy was for me more interesting than the first even though it's light on space based action but the events on the ground and diplomatic maneuvering more than makes up. The interesting thing is that at this point there is no real "bad guy" although reading the British forces as the "heroes" of the story means you should take the Indian forces as the protagonists but they do nothing that anyone else wouldn't do and have done and with some style it has to be said. I am looking forward to the conclusion to this story in the third novel "A Small Colonial War" not just for the expected action but for the final steps of the characters that I've been following during the events in and around Vesy.

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Warship by Joshua Dalzelle

Warship by Joshua Dalzelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got my copy of Warship for free after signing up to Discover Scifi, while I've read other novels from Joshua the Black Fleet series wasn't an immediate attention grabber. However I wasn't going to turn the offer down since I do enjoy his writing so I jumped right into this world that he created to tell the story of Captain Jackson Wolfe an Earth born native who commands the Raptor class destroyer "Blue Jacket" part of the Centcom Black Fleet. Far into the future mankind has discovered FTL and colonised numerous worlds mostly along racial and political lines and conflict amongst them has been non-existent. While it's true the various factions of humanity may not overly like eachother they are bound by economics and a surprisingly well thought out political and military structure. The Black Fleet is at the bottom rung of the military ladder, old ships and questionable crews but for this cruise Captain Wolfe has been ordered out to the frontier to investigation some curious events, what he finds changes everything.
I took me a while to get into the story although I have found myself enjoying the more "realistic" physics in military scifi where FTL is not simply a button press away and sublight in system is not a matter of minutes but days. I did eventually get into the swing of things and while most of the characters are not that endearing the interaction and events that play out on the ship were interesting even before the discovery of the destroyed colonies. Once we get to that point then the novel changes gear and everything ramps up and I found myself turning the last page and going straight to the store to buy book two in the series.

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Warspite by Christopher Nuttall

Warspite by Christopher Nuttall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first interstellar war is over, many of the space faring nations of Earth and still licking their wounds and after the devastation the need to move humanity out into the stars is compelling. While human treaties exist to protect the solar systems infrastructure the star systems and colonies beyond the tramlines leading away from Sol are far less protected. The great powers have an understanding but nation states sidelined for decades who survived the war relatively intact are flexing their muscles and the newly discovered planet and it's alien population will become the powder keg.
Warspite is a change of pace from the original Ark Royal trilogy, with less conflict and more diplomatic and political issues the story seems a little slow paced but that's not a bad thing. Without giving too much away we can see that there will be trouble ahead for many of the characters we first met in the original trilogy as the demands of Britain, Earth, Humanity and this new species conflict.
A solid start to the new series but it may be a little jolt in style and substance if you are fresh from the Ark Royal series while I had a good gap between them and that allowed me to embrace the changes without any negativity.

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Hobby Master McDonnell Douglas CF-188B Hornet

Picked this up the other day, having room on the shelves is proving to be expensive but the Canadian livery really caught my eye :)

The Furies by Jo Graham

Stargate Atlantis: The Furies by Jo Graham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The threat of Queen Death escalates not only to every human in Pegasus but also to the factions of Wraith who she is alienating thanks to her scorched earth policy and together they face a stark truth. There is no help or salvation but from themselves and they all know in their hearts that the current dynamic within Pegasus has been shattered forever, for Pegasus to survive will take not only a military alliance but a fundamental shift in attitudes from everyone. This is the situation which has Teyla once again embracing the part of her which is Wraith and taking her place as a Queen for only a Queen can influence and manipulate the events in the direction which could mean a future for all.
The Furies by Jo Graham once again gives its all to lovers of Stargate Atlantis while enhancing and massaging the established canon from the tv series, some may see this as a bad thing but Legacy has to evolve the characters, it would have happened on the tv show and maybe in a similar direction. I still adore diving deep into the Wraith culture and the introduction of Waterlight was beautiful as is how the Wraith see the humans. The overlay of their worldview on the Atlantis command structure and personnel is inspired and makes so much sense and as is often the case it's the lack of understanding and insight which blocks potential solutions from being seen.
With the revelations and events in The Furies we can only look forward to their consequences in the next Legacy novel "Secrets", can't wait.

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Sir Apropos of Nothing

Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter David
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sir Apropos of Nothing was not a book I went looking for although as a Trek novel fan I do tend to look at the other work of its authors and follow them on social media. This was how I first became aware of Sir Apropos of Nothing and decided to give it a go and boy was that a great decision.
The story takes the usual tropes of a low born young man who through force of will, effort, coincidence and plain good luck raises through the ranks of the society he lives in. The main difference here is that you really have to decide if Apropos is a good guy or not, he's certainly a broken individual (his physical limitations, birthing and status made sure of that) but he tends to keep doing the right thing for maybe all the wrong reasons. You see his mother believed in destiny and it's hard to argue after she witnesses the death and birth of a Phoenix and while she herself has a hard life never doubt that everything she did was to give her son every chance, of course Apropos only really really understands that long after she has passed on. Never fear though, the loss of his mother spurred him into his grand adventure dealing with Kings, Queens, Knights and oh yes the very opinionated and arrogant princess who may just more crazy and dangerous than everyone else combined.
After I finished Sir Apropos of Nothing I immediately went to buy the second and third novels in the series but alas they are not offered as ebooks and the prices for new copies of printed media were quite high. I have yet to decide if I can justify the cost but I would certainly love to read them and perhaps that is the best recommendation I can give:)

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Stargate Atlantis: Allegiance

SGA-18 Allegiance by Melissa Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reviewing the Legacy series is tricky, I was fortunate I read it well after the fact but was totally unaware of the major plot points but I never went looking for reviews either.
So here we go, Allegiance is the third novel in the series and Rodney is still very much missing and unaware he is helping to bring down his friends and family in Pegasus and after the failure of the first retrieval mission things look bleak. Atlantis greets some old and new friends from Earth but before anyone can get settled the city is attacked by forces loyal to Queen Death, the city survives mainly intact for all but one critical element. However we also see that Sateda in a small way is rising from among the ashes of it's former civilisation offering hope to Ronon but there are always other worlds and groups looking to exploit the resources of worlds unable to protect themselves. It seems diplomacy will be the tool of the day to protect and nurture alliances within the humans of Pegasus but the consequences of the bargaining being done could be severe...
Allegiance is another fine addition to the Legacy series, Melissa and Amy have done a great job incorporating new and previously seen aspects of the Atlantis tv show into this series and maintained the pacing and entertainment value while holding true to the spirit.

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Coulson and Lola

Coulson And Lola

Now this I had on pre-order for a long time, it would be quicker to import but the cost was prohibitive but I got it the other week so all good :)

Vienna Season 3

I had the third season of Vienna on pre-order from Big Finish for a few months and the CD package arrived the other day, they also provide direct access to the mp3 library of your purchases and a version formatted as an audiobook. Big Finish should be praised for both the gesture and the added convenience they provide to their customers.

Vienna are the audio adventures of the bounty hunter Vienna Salvatori voiced by Chase Masterson, well worth listening too and produced to a very high level.

• 3.1 Self Improvement by Ian Potter
• 3.2 Big Society by Guy Adams
• 3.3 Impossibly Glamorous by Steve Lyons

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Stargate Atlantis: The Lost

Stargate Atlantis: The Lost by Jo Graham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Lost is the second book in the Stargate Atlantis Legacy series and the story quickly picks up from the first novel where McKay was captured by the Wraith. The fate of McKay was unexpected but in hindsight perfectly in sync with events as seen in the television series. The complexity of dealing with Todd and the Genii added some depth to the novel which did feel a little like a staging story, moving pieces into places ready for a more hard hitting events to come.
That said I am loving how the Wraith are being written and the creation and expansion of their world is one reason why this Legacy series needed to exist and while I've never been a fan of the Genii their presence in this story certainly gave counterpoint to dealing with Todd and the threat of the uber Wraith Queen. Overall a good addition to the series, not every book is going to be all action and suspense and the series will need to balance things out but so far the first two novels are proving well worth the time to read.

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Dark Star by Jason Halstead

Dark Star by Jason Halstead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading the first novel in the Dark Universe series and enjoying it I kinda lost track of the release schedule, you get used to waiting considerable periods for new novels and when an author does commit to a series and releases in a timely fashion you may like me find three novels on the reading list. I have to admit and many would agree you do tend to get more out of a single book in a series when you are reading them one after the other, you remain in the world the author has created and Dark Star was no exception. We've seen Aden and Twyf thrown together and find a union that few in this universe truly understand or may even be willing to acknowledge yet it makes them a force to be reckoned with. As the Kesari and their proxies hunt down those responsible for "destabilizing" the known universe it's not going to be the size of your fleet or the power of your weapons that sets the course of life everyone but determination, courage and yes love that will be brought to bear.
Dark Star was a very entertaining addition to the Dark Universe series, the conflicts (big and small) are all being intensified and the consequences or failure are immense but our heroes continue forward with the usual flare, humour, pure luck and pleasurable diversions:)


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Century Wings SR-71

SR-71 Blackbird U.S.A.F 9th SRW 61-7958 1990

When I first saw this model I pretty much fell in love, the SR-71 has always been a firm favourite of mine but the price was always just that little too high. That changed when KH Norton whose mailing list I am on mentioned that had a cancelled order and were offering limited stock first come first served and at a discount, click and paid within minutes:)

2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Die Hard

Die Hard

An annual watch so once again liberated a previous blog entry with some updates.
The debate rages on if Die Hard really qualifies as a christmas movie, it's set during christmas and you could probably engineer the same circumstances for any major holiday but for me the christmas theme is always there and becomes part of the story so it qualifies in my book. It really does have the important ingredients of family and redemption as the main character addresses mistakes made and lessons learnt through events in the movie, no different to a Christmas Carol when you get right down to it. New York Cop John McClane visits his family in LA as his wife took a good promotion but there are evident marital issues, it's not simply their jobs that are keeping them apart.
He arrives during the senior staff christmas party at the partially completed office building and before he even gets settled in the bad guys raid the festivities with superior manpower, technical resources and firepower. They present a terrorist stance but it soon becomes apparent that this is a high tech raid against the company's vaults which contains hundreds of millions of dollars in bearer bonds. While their plan seems to be going flawlessly the "fly in the ointment" soons makes his presence felt after witnessing the murder of a senior company official and the battle is on.

Die Hard from the opening scenes to the final credits is a classic action movie and is holding up very well as the years move on, yed technology wise the state of the art gadgets are laughable but the production and style of the movie seems to be proving ageless. Bruce Willis earned every penny of his then record breaking paycheck having really made the most of his success on tv with Moonlighting and negotiating a huge contract but he is ably supported by Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson. While I will always watch this movie over the christmas holidays it's also an option for when I want a good high energy action flick made when the studios were not afraid to make something for adults rather than just the family.

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The O.C.L.T. Omnibus: Books 1-4

The O.C.L.T. Omnibus: Books 1-4 by David Niall Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've grown very fond of the idea of having a single world which allows multiple authors to write for it with as much interconnectedness as they see fit. The world of OCLT uses this writing style to offer up in this collection four stories which while standalone tells a bigger story and in this case the notion of the sum of its parts holds true.
In the first story "Brought To Light"written by Aaron Rosenberg we have a US military intelligence unit searching for a scientist and one of their own agents in Sweden and they come across something totally unexpected. The second story written by David Niall Wilson is called "The Parting" and deals with ancient magics brought into the modern world with a geo-political twist and those who seek to protect the world and it's people from such things. In the third story "The Temple of Camazotz" by David Niall Wilson we have a mystery surrounding an ancient religion/god in Mexico and its use to aid in a drug smuggling operation and finally the fourth and probably best of the bunch a very X-Files style of story called "Incursion" written by Aaron and deals with mystical and everyday forces on a tribal reservation when a number of strange deaths occur.
While each of the stories are entertaining in themselves when read together the use of the same characters and structure really comes to the fore and adds immensely to the enjoyment.

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Christmas Magic

Christmas Magic

Carrie Blackford (Lindy Booth) is driving back to the city in her new BMW when she stops off at a petrol station, she meets a bus driver and they have a friendly chat about life and christmas, he warns her to be careful driving in the icey conditions and they say goodbye. Carrie loses control of her car and smashes into a concrete pillar and wakes in central park with the bus driver and she learns that he is an Angel and after her crash she has been given the opportunity to return and improve the life of a restaurant owner. She agrees and meets Scott Walker (Paul McGillion) who owns a small restaurant which is close to failing, he is also a single parent of a young girl Abby (Kiara Glasco) and she gains his trust by offering her skills as an event planner to boost the marketing of his restaurant and she has until christmas eve to effect a change.

Christmas Magic is distributed by Hallmark so you know what you are going to get but this movie is a very definite step above the usual seasonal fare, two very good performance from Lindy and Paul with Kiara really shining. The story while certainly not unique was done well which again is helped by the casting and I don't think there is really anything not to like, well except for the singing at the end which for one song really was overplayed and didn't even sound like Scott.

 

For fans of Paul or Lindy this is the seasonal movie for you and it works if you are just looking for a family feel good movie for the holidays.

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - While You Were Sleeping

While You Were Sleeping

This feel good movie is a Sandra Bullock romantic comedy and one of her earliest, produced after her breakout in Demolition Man and the huge hit Speed which really gave her career a boost. In this movie she is a lowly cashier/collector on the city's network of elevated trains who is mildly infatuated with a guy (Peter) she sees on daily basis. Working on a christmas eve she sees him accosted and he falls onto the tracks, she jumps on to the tracks and saves his life. A slight hiccup at the hospital has the staff and the man's family believing she is his fiancee and this surprising but most welcome news helps the family get through the holidays while their oldest son is in a coma. Meanwhile complications mount up as the lie is played out and to add a further twist Lucy (Sandra Bullock) and Jack (the older brother) played by Bill Pullman fall in love but neither will admit it thanks to guilt and existing obligations. It all comes to a head after Peter awakes from his coma and well he asks Lucy to marry him (for a second time as far as he knows) and we get the classic farce wedding scene as everything comes to a head.

While You Were Sleeping is an excellent romantic comedy and a great feel good christmas movie, there is not a bad character or performance in the entire film even Joe Jr. Since I watch this movie every christmas I've taken last years blog entry and tweaked it a little, my opinions haven't changed, this will always be on my must watch list at christmas if not anytime.

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Scrooged

Scrooged

I watch this movie every year so being the lazy so and so I am I copied and pasted the majority of this entry into the blog, so there:)
There have been many adaptations of the classic Dickens novel and to be honest those that stay within the traditional setting leave me a little dry so when I first watched Scrooged many many years ago it was because of it's star a certain Bill Murray. Since then I have watched the movie more times than I care to think about with no shame in the reasoning, it's an excellent reworking of the tale in a more modern era (well modern as in when it was made) and combines all the important aspects of the original with some very good comedic elements both through visual gags and some excellent writing and performances.

Robert Mitchum was great in his small role and Karen Allen as always a delight and it's hard to fault any of the actors, I particular liked the score for the movie as well. It was also rewarding to have a movie that made full use of the talents of Bobcat Goldthwait without going over the top, his hunting rabbit line was inspired and a sign of the times, Lee Majors was a fun cameo for those that grew up when he was a headliner on television:)

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - A Christmas Horror Story

A Christmas Horror Story

All I really knew about this movie was that William Shatner had a pivotal but small role and truth be told he was magnificent as the radio disk jockey who was used to tie the stories all together. Yes this movie is comprised of a number of separate stories each I assumed directed by one of the guys who shared credit for the movie. One story deals with the investigation of a year old double murder of two young people at a private school, three teens sneak into the building to make a documentary and find themselves locked in the building where the murders took place. Another story has the original police officer who investigated the crime trying to get his life back with his wife and son, he had taken leave for stress after the bloody events of the year before. The family goes to get a tree from some private land and there is an incident with his son which turns christmas eve upside down. The next story follows a rather dysfunctional family on a trip to a wealthy relative, again it does not go well and on the way back they crash their car and have to walk through the woods but there is something out there that punishes the naughty. The final story is more whimsical as we are at the North Pole and Santa is almost ready for his annual trip around the world when something terrible happens to his elves and hell comes to the workshop.

William Shatner as Dangerous Dan

Adrian Holmes as Scott

A Christmas Horror Story was an entertaining movie, Bill was brilliant and each story made full use of the tropes of the genre although I have to say I had an inkling about the story that was being unveiled as the movie went on but it still was enough of a surprise to be a credit to the writers, directors and editors.

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Under the Mistletoe

Under the Mistletoe

Under the Mistletoe is a 2006 movie which stars Michael Shanks as Kevin Harrison and Jaime Ray Newman as Susan Chandler. Susan lost her husband in a car accident the year before and her son Jonathan (Burkely Duffield) claims that the ghost or spirit of his father has returned and talks to him, his snotty and smack worthy attitude combined with financial pressures has the first christmas without her husband becoming a bit of nightmare.
Susan meets Kevin after she rams his car while she was talking on the phone, it's not a great first meeting and the second meeting is after Jonathan attacked a fellow student and she is called in to talk to the councillor and yep Kevin is the new school councillor.
Kevin is sympathetic and offers to go above and beyond to help Jonathan although you wonder even at this stage he is attracted to Susan, of course nothing they can do will make Kevin look anything but a good guy mainly because the "spirit" of the dead husband (Tom played by Conan Graham) comes across as a bit of a dick. First he communicates with his son with no regard to how the world would see something talking themselves in public least of all a young boy surrounded by his peers so getting bullied isn't a surprise. Tom also goes on to pretty much stalk and terrify his former wife with his spooky piano playing and lights flickering. To be fair he ultimately shows he wants the best for his family by supporting the story's main plot to get Kevin and Susan together albeit in a very complicated way and with many a false start but this is a christmas family movie and you will get the happy ending:)

Hockey is involved in this movie.

Under the Mistletoe has it's issues but overall it's a good seasonal movie with some fine performances from the two leads and well worth a mention is Ingrid Torrance (SG1) who played Diane Holmes, but I disliked the son and hated the father and the dotty shopkeeper had me seething:)

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2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Hell On Wheels

Hell On Wheels

AMC chose to split the fifth season in half showing the first seven episodes in 2015, the remainder of the season has yet to have a US airdate announced but it can't come soon enough.

The fifth season follows our anti-hero Cullen Bohannan played by Anson Mount as he continues the search for his wife and child and to aid that he is now working for the Central Pacific railroad driving through the Sierra Nevada mountains. The storyline deals strongly with the Chinese aspect of building the railroad from the exploitation of contracted labour, class of cultures and racism inherent in the people and the system of the time.
Tim Guinee returns as a regular playing Collis Huntington the railroad owner and Christopher Heyerdahl once more aids an appropriate amount of devious menace to the proceedings despite his current cloak of religious respectability. Of course we can't forget Colm Meaney as the larger than life Thomas Durant who continues to be totally untrustworthy as he drives the Union Pacific westward. In the center of the season so far is the ever present shadow of Salt Lake City and the Brigham Young who is looking to have the two railroads meet in his city and lead to a utopia where his people and religion would become dominant.

AMC may consider The Walking Dead to be their crown jewel and it is in pure viewership but I can't help but believe Hell On Wheels would get as much praise and marketability if more people would take a chance on it. The writing has been flawless throughout the series and production levels second to none given so much location work and the period aspect of the show. The final episode of this run left us with a bit of a cliffhanger which you realise they have been building towards since the previous season if not the very first and that is the quality of the writing.
There is no doubt in my mind that come the conclusion of the series a Blu-ray boxset will find a welcoming home on my shelves and once I can submerge myself in the birth of the intercontinental railroad and all that hell it brought with it.

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