strange and random happenstance

If you follow me on social media you might have heard some rather declarative statements on November 14th when Netflix announced they were doing a new version of Rebecca starring Lily James and Armie Hammer. It's not that I object to their being a new Rebecca, I just happen to object to almost everything we know so far about this project. Let's start with Armie Hammer... um, he's not British. Not that I'll hold that against him... what I hold against him is that he's only three years older than Lily James. Maxim de Winter is about twenty-five years older than his twenty-one year old bride, not three! Lily could work, I honestly have liked her in everything she's been in, she just needs a different leading man. Because of all the actors out there, you need a certain something to BE Maxim de Winter, something indefinable. For example I was just watching The Addams Family last night and Raúl Juliá, he would have been an amazing Maxim. Armie, not so much.

Now let's break down the other aspects of the production. The book is being adapted by Jane Goldman, best known for two of the worst X-Men films and the Kingsman franchise, big budget superhero blockbusters don't exactly mesh well with Daphne Du Maurier unless you're keeping maybe two ideas and scrapping the rest of the story like Hitchcock did with The Birds. Yes, Goldman also adapted Stardust, which I liked, but she also did The Woman in Black, which I hated, making her hit-and-miss with adaptions. As for the director Ben Wheatley, having two episode of Doctor Who I disliked AND that horrid adaptation of High-Rise on his resume aren't endearing him to me in the least. Then I have questions for the team, is it going to be a jam-packed two hour production or a lavish four hour miniseries, because there's more chance in doing justice to the book if it's four hours. But with Netflix it could go either way... Here's hoping they salvage something good out of this star-crossed crew instead of making me hate it more than I hate the Charles Dance version.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Armie Hammer, Charles Dance, Daphne Du Maurier, Doctor Who, Du Maurier December, High-Rise, Hitchcock, Lily James, Netflix, Raul Julia, Rebecca, Stardust, The Addams Family, The Birds, The Woman in Black, X-Men

Stardust was the second book by Neil Gaiman that I read. It's probably not his most well known piece, people tending to favor his more popular works from American Gods to The Sandman. Stardust is kind of somewhere inbetween with fairies and stars fallen to earth. And the truth is, I can see why people just aren't as engaged with it because I spent the entire afternoon one dark and dreary December 31st trying to finish it so that I could start the new year with a fresh new book, something miles away from Stardust. I couldn't bear the thought of having this book hanging over me at the start of another year. Yet I'm not here to talk about my dissatisfaction with the book, I'm here to talk about the movie that came out over two years later in the summer of 2007. Because I had disliked the book so thoroughly I oddly had no expectations of the movie. I literally was just excited to see so many British actors I loved from television on the big screen, from Henry Cavill to Nathaniel Parker, Jason Flemyng to Mark Heap, and especially Julian Rhind-Tutt to Mark Williams! Also, never forget Ricky Gervais is in this movie fresh off the success of Extras.

My friends thought I might have been a little too excited, I got lots of the "yes yes of course we'll see it" responses with the underlying message being "will you be quiet about it if we agree to go?" It came out the weekend before my birthday and it really was an early gift, despite the grumbling company.  

Stardust is literally one of my favorite movies. A stellar cast, a wonderful love story, magic, humor, a flying ship, oh, and the realization that I actually like Mark Strong. The movie captures that same ephemeral quality that is in The Princess Bride that you can't quite capture if you set out to replicate it. Just look to Neil's own flop MirrorMask which was deliberately meant to be Labyrinth for a new generation. MirrorMask is best forgotten, unlike Stardust. Stardust showed me that you really never can tell about books and their adaptations. They just might surprise you. Just as a great book can make a horrible movie, so can a mediocre book make a fabulous movie. Preconceptions get us nowhere and if we leave them at the door we might be surprised. Though I do think it's time for me to give the book another chance. I've only journeyed back to Wall in the delightful short story that Susanna Clarke set in Gaiman's universe, but you never know, Stardust might end up like The Princess Bride for me, the book and the movie being equally good for entirely different reasons.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: American Gods, Birthday, Gaiman Gala, Gaiman Reminiscence, Labyrinth, MirrorMask, Nathaniel Parker, Neil Gaiman, Ricky Gervais, Sandman, Stardust, Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, The Princess Bride, Wall

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone Book 3) by Laini Taylor
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 8th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 624 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

The war between the Seraphim and the Chimera has come to Earth. Cunningly arriving in a guise to lull humanity into submission Karou and Akiva know that their only chance to succeed against these "angels" led by Jael is to return to Eretz and convince the Misbegotten Seraphim to ally themselves with the few remaining Chimera in an attempt to destroy Jael and bring peace to the two worlds. The fact that Jael brings a warning to the Vatican of the "beasts" and "monsters" that have been warring with them makes it even more imperative that the outcasts lead by Karou abandon the hideout in Morroco, which is soon found and studiously dissected by scientists, and escape through the tear in the dimensions. But aligning the previously combative forces looks like it might be harder then Karou and Akiva thought. If they can't pull off a compromise how will they destroy Jael and get a chance at making a future together? Going against their natures a plan is hatched that will at least save Earth and lure the fight back to the one dimension. Hopefully they can defeat the enemy on the land that has been soaked with their blood for many a year, if not, at least they have saved Earth. Yet their destinies might already be written in the stars.

What the godstars was that? In all seriousness, there is always a problem with final books in a series that have been predominately about the battle of good versus evil. Because the final installment will always be the final showdown. I don't really want to read about battles, which is the fatal flaw in The Hunger Games series when Mockingjay basically became a post apocalyptic version of The Hurt Locker. Dreams of Gods and Monsters nicely sidesteps this by focusing on the main characters who are peripheral to the battles because they are involved in other schemes, but quickly falls of a cliff. You really need to watch your footing in perilous denouements, a cliff or quicksand could be there waiting to smother all your hopes for a satisfying conclusion. The fact that, while sometimes rambling, I liked where the book was going until about the last thirty pages makes the ending even more of a betrayal. Yes, you can't make everyone happy, I get that, but still, I was hoping for something more.

Because my issues with this final book occur in the final pages I don't think that my talking about spoilers will be that surprising, because my need for discourse with my issues is greater then my need for silence, but I will therefore just warn you that spoilers are ahead. So you have been warned. Spoilers. So you're not reading anymore unless you want to know why I was so disappointed? Good. I shall continue my rant. The last few chapters don't give us a denouement they give us a beginning. Instead of being successful, reaching the end of their battles, and getting a happily ever after, we get this amorphous ending that is both unsatisfying and puzzling. Yes life is complicated, yes endings aren't necessarily tied up with a bow, but that doesn't mean you introduce tons of new stuff that no one gets, not even the characters, with twenty pages left and call it a day. I cry FOWL! As an author the worst thing you can do is give us a beginning instead of an ending. There's different kinds of endings, you can have some lack of closure, you can make it not happy for everyone, but you can't give us something that doesn't even make sense to the characters in the book. I was left wondering if there is going to be a spin off series, like many YA series are doing now, because this isn't an ending. I don't know how many times I can say this in regard to this book. Starting something new and different without giving closure first makes me want to burn this book a little.

Ok, let me break it down more. Akiva's people, the Stelians, they've always been mysterious and doing whatever they do, so it does make sense that they finally arrive and explain to Akiva that he needs some training, whatever, I'm cool with this. But then to have this mystic vision wherein this outside force, a force we've just learned of fairly recently in this book, will be defeated by everyone in the room becoming gods, aka the godstars? Gorram it, what the hell is this about? And trust me, Karou and Akiva and just as mystified as you and me! It's like the book became an entirely different book. The humor goes away and we are left with this idea that somehow they will all become stars? What, like at the end of Stardust where when they die they become stars? But that doesn't seem to be what this book is saying. They have a big battle ahead, a battle we don't understand or know about, but it's coming, here's a tacky epilogue with the characters still not knowing what's going on but at least Karou and Akiva get some action in some semblance of a happily ever after. How could this satiate anyone?

This also negates the wonderful worldbuilding that this series was known for up until this point which still has many previous questions unanswered. By adding in this unnecessary and convoluted worldbuilding with the Stelians and their weird dimension punching more questions are asked rather then answered. It is almost like Laini Taylor was going, "Oh shit, I forgot everything about Akiva and his people, what do I do?" Followed by a glut of information that will lead to a WTF reveal with an ending that no one, not even the characters get. I seriously cannot state it enough. The characters don't know what's going on so how can I!?! But the most annoying fact is, until the Stelians take Akiva down into that little cave, Laini had set up the perfect ending. Everyone was where I thought they should be. Even Liraz and Ziri were perfect, and of course Zuzana and Mik were more then perfect, and then vomit. I was hoping for them rebuilding their world, bringing their people together, learning more about how exactly the magic works, not getting ready for some big battle that I couldn't care less about because I just learned about it. This series connected with me, even if I never really liked Akiva and had some issues, but the fact that Laini made me even care about characters that I don't really like I felt they deserved more then this. And it's not that I deserved more, it was ok if unsatisfying, I just felt that these characters I have loved so much were just worthy of so much more, and not becoming some nebulous gods in some epic battle for the worlds.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Akiva, Chimera, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Gods, Godstars, Karou, Laini Taylor, Mockingjay, Seraphim, Stardust, Summer Series, The Hunger Games, The Hurt Locker, Worldbuilding, Zuzana

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: March 19th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 592 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Danger intensifies for the Shadowhunters as the New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy comes to a close.

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy."

Final in The Mortal Instruments Steampunk spin-off...

The Lost by Vicki Pettersson
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: March 19th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York Times bestselling author Vicki Pettersson is back with The Lost, the second spine-tingling entry in her supernatural noir trilogy, Celestial Blues.

Fallen angel Griffin “Grif” Shaw and his mortal lover, reporter Katherine Craig, are trying to learn the truth about Grif’s death a half a century earlier. This quest will lead them to discover that the Pures might have their own agenda—one that will have Grif and Kit scrambling to stay alive, to stay together, and to choose their fate...before it’s chosen for them.

Blending paranormal romance, thrilling action, and a captivating mystery, The Lost, is an urban fantasy sure to please fans of Jeaniene Frost, Kim Harrison, and Charlaine Harris."

The first book in this series came very highly recommended to me. Glad to see that the series got another volume to it.

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Published by: Tor
Publication Date: March 19th, 2013
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"“Gaslamp Fantasy,” or historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and writers alike. A number of wonderful fantasy novels, including Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, owe their inspiration to works by nineteenth-century writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontës, and George Meredith to Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Morris. And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a little to literature inspired by this period.

Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction, and wishes to explore the wide variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings, characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners, all of which fit under the larger umbrella of Gaslamp Fantasy. The result is eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents such as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth century invested (or cursed!) with magic."

So excited for this! If it even gets anywhere near the awesomeness of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell I will be doing handstands and cartwheels (things, as you might have guess, I don't normally do!)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cassandra Clare, Celestial Blues, Clockwork Princess, Ellen Datlow, Gaslamp Fantasy, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, Steampunk, Terri Windling, The Lost, The Prestige, Vicki Pettersson

Hollow Earth by John Barrowman and Carole Barrowman
Published by: Aladdin
Publication Date: October 30th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free.
Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.

The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy."

I love the siblings Barrowman. What could make this cooler? If I actually get to go to the book launch in Milwaukee!

The Dead of Winter by Lee Collins
Published by: Angry Robot
Publication Date: October 30th, 2012
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cora and her husband hunt things - things that shouldn't exist. When the marshal of Leadville, Colorado, comes across a pair of mysterious deaths, he turns to Cora to find the creature responsible, but if Cora is to overcome the unnatural tide threatening to consume the small town, she must first confront her own tragic past as well as her present."

They had me at "True Blood meets True Grit."

The Twisted Tradgey of Miss Natalie Stewart by Leanna Renee Hieber
Published by: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: October 30th, 2012
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For Natalie Stewart, a normal life has never seemed so far away. Her only solace, Lord Jonathan Denbury, is wanted for murder. To clear his name, Denbury must return to England and assume the role of his demon doppelganger. But Natalie begins to doubt his true motives, especially as a new gentleman begins whispering in her ear. Natalie and Denbury may be able to visit each other in their dreams, but they can't escape the darkening shadows. Amid spontaneous explosions, friends turned enemies and dangerous secrets revealed, there's still a demon who has Natalie's scent, and someone is trying to resurrect the ultimate evil."

Just sounds like a fun late fall read!

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: October 30th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Hopelessly crossed in love, a boy of half-fairy parentage leaves his mundane Victorian-English village on a quest for a fallen star in the magical realm. The star proves to be an attractive woman with a hot temper, who plunges with our hero into adventures featuring witches, the lion and the unicorn, plotting elf-lords, ships that sail the sky, magical transformations, curses whose effects rebound, binding conditions with hidden loopholes and all the rest."

Beautiful new edition of Stardust, which, wasn't my favorite Gaiman, but it was my favorite movie adaptation of all his books... I'm pretending Neverwhere never existed, oh, so bad...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Carole Barrowman, John Barrowman, Leanna Renee Hieber, Lee Collins, Neil Gaiman, Stardust