strange and random happenstance

Rarely do you come across an adaptation that is perfection, which is probably why Netflix abruptly cancelled it. They couldn't see genius right in front of them that they commissioned and instead just made more Bridgerton. Not that I have anything against Bridgerton as a cultural phenomena, I have very highly specific issues which if I was to livestream would be me yelling about the music and sticking closer to the books. I love those books. But this review isn't about Bridgerton. Seriously it isn't. OK it is a little because Ruby Stokes quit playing Francesca on Bridgerton to play Lucy on Lockwood and Co.. But I swear that's the end of it. This is about the genius of Joe Cornish's adaptation of Jonathan Stroud's books. He literally brought the books to life. I know that's a cliched, hackneyed phrase, but do you really realize how rare of an occurrence this is? There are millions of adaptations out there, and many that I like, and a few that I love, but rarely does it happen where the book and the adaptation feel so aligned that the changes made don't annoy me. You could go in the opposite direction and pull a William Goldman, but I honestly think that William Goldman and both of his versions of The Princess Bride are a once in a lifetime event. And to have someone who isn't Andrew Davies pull it off? Well, tip of the hat to you Mr. Cornish. Though I shouldn't have been surprised once I realized so much of the production team were friends and colleagues of Edgar Wright and they did nail his flare for the perfect song at the perfect moment. From the second the opening credits rolled I knew this show was for me. Not only did it give background on The Problem with amazing infographics that I would have killed to have been talented enough to design, but the music has this Unsolved Mysteries meets The X-Files vibe that made me not only not "skip intro" but occasionally I'd watch them more than once. But this isn't a case where a bad show has amazing credits, looking at you final few seasons of Mad Men, the quality of the credits carried through to the show. The casting was perfect, the set, while it wasn't how I had pictured 35 Portland Row it was still 35 Portland Row. And as for how they were able to maintain Lucy's voice through her tape recorder taking the place of her first person narration, genius. I mean, if you want to quibble, some of my friends think that the show could have done a better setup with describing the different levels of ghosts, but seeing as I've read the books I don't think I'm able to speak to that because I've read the accompanying glossary in every volume so these facts are ingrained in me now. I'll say that I wish George had been more body positive, but at least with casting Ali Hadji-Heshmati they were able to still show inclusivity. Also Lucy tends to drop her sword a bit too much. And the pacing was a little too breakneck... But as you can see these are literally nitpicking. Because while Louise Brealey skeeved me out, she was meant to! I just am bereft that there is going to be no more of this show. I mean, it's not as bad as say the fate of Willow, I still have the books so I know how the story ends, but this, THIS was something special. This was it for me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bridgerton, Edgar Wright, Francesca Bridgerton, Joe Cornish, Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co., Lucy Carlyle, Ruby Stokes, The Princess Bride, The Problem, The X-Files, Unsolved Mysteries

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: September 12th, 2017
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Their enemies are closing in. But if there's one thing that George believes deep in his soul it's that knowledge is power. They cannot go into their final confrontation without knowing all the facts. And that's why they are breaking into the Fittes Mausoleum, where the legendary Marissa Fittes is buried. Because if the skull is right, the woman they know as Marissa Fittes's granddaughter, Penelope, is actually Marissa herself. Which makes it highly suspect that she only "discovered" The Problem. And if everything was above board the Fittes Mausoleum wouldn't have been booby-trapped now would it? Lockwood and Co. which bafflingly now includes Quill Kipps finds the Mausoleum occupied, but not by Marissa. It seems the skull was right. Now that they know they are dealing with Marissa they can make their plans accordingly. Plans that now include vengeance from Julius Winkman, just sprung from jail. Their only viable move is to lure all their enemies to Portland Row and then work a miracle. But seeing as Lucy is the first person since Marissa Fittes who can talk to Type Three ghosts, they know they have the power, they just need the nerve. As their enemies descend on their home, destroying their beloved headquarters, they retreat to the room where Lockwood's sister met her end. Just like Rotwell was doing down at the research center in Aldbury Castle they make an opening to the Other Side. They have gone where they can not be followed. Their plan is to cross through the bleak and desolate landscape and gain entry into the Fittes building and end Marissa's reign of terror. The Problem will be removed. But crossing through this liminal space isn't easy. Every step is laborious, the protection they have can only last so long, and Quill was injured, but oddly he seems to be doing the best of all of them, which is when they realize how serious this is. Not all of them might make it out alive. But they have to try. They are the only hope for this to end once and for all.

This is it! The big final showdown! This is for all the stakes people! And maybe, in the end, that's what let me down most, because I didn't feel like there were that many stakes. I have always disliked stories that have no stakes. Look to the Gothic classics The Woman in Black or The Turn of the Screw, both of these stories use a framing device that takes place after the events of the book so we know that Arthur Kipps (last name probably not coincidental) and the unnamed governess survive. Throughout The Empty Grave Lucy is dropping hints about the future. She'll become a preeminent figure in studying the Other Side, which is great for her, not so great for creating any kind of tension. But we have hopes with Quill, he's badly injured and the only way that he is doing better than everyone else on the Other Side is that he is dying. But guess what? He doesn't die. I'm not saying I wanted him to die, but him somehow pulling through after doing a total hero move and joining Lockwood and Co. and risking everything to right his wrongs, well, he should have died is all I'm saying. Sometimes the best thing a character can do is die. I know that might sound harsh but it's the truth. A prime example is L.A. Confidential, Bud White should have died. He should have gone out in a blaze of glory. But no, he's a battered man in the back of a car. I'm even one of those rare people who think Thomas Magnum should have died because it was more satisfying than the ending we got. But it is what it is. At least Stroud was willing to let the villains die. And while this book is kind of just a headlong rush of tying up all the loose ends I did enjoy the vibe in shares with Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Firstly we have windows into other worlds that are used for escape, one uses powerful sources the other uses Æsahættr. Secondly we have a laborious journey through the land of the dead. And I know at the time I thought up more but I think those two are enough justification for the comparison. But I do love that while The Empty Grave has this similar vibe it's also totally it's own thing. Though I kind of would like a further glimpse into the future... Just a little more for Lucy... Is that too much to ask? I mean Philip Pullman is doing it...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: His Dark Materials, L.A. Confidential, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Magnum P.I., Marissa Frittes, Philip Pullman, Quill Kipps, The Empty Grave, The Problem, The Turn of the Screw, The Woman in Black

The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 435 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

After the events at Aickmere's Department Store Lucy has left Lockwood and Co. She and the skull have gone freelance. Which has it's ups and downs. Her home isn't really a home and she misses 35 Portland Row and Lockwood in particular but she's not about to go crawling back begging for her old job. One day, after a long night, there he is, Anthony Lockwood, at her door. She knew they'd eventually see each other but she didn't think he'd seek her out. He's not asking her to come back just asking for her help. Penelope Fittes has asked the Lockwood and Co. complement to look into the case of Solomon Guppy, otherwise known as the Brixton Cannibal. He killed and ate his victims and it seems his ghost has returned to his old home. The source must be found and destroyed. Lockwood and Co. with Lucy and Quill Kipps in tow successfully find the source but Lockwood is reckless and Lucy is worried. She left in order to protect him and it seems that this has had the opposite effect. Though with the life Lucy leads she doesn't have time to dwell on this revelation as the very next day the skull is stolen from her apartment. There's only one person who knew about the skull other than her friends and that's a worker at the Fittes Furnaces where sources are destroyed. Lucy reaches out to him but it doesn't end well, he's murdered and she's on the run. The only place she can go is Portland Row. After a failed attempt to rescue the skull they decide that perhaps being in London isn't that safe at the moment and they accept a job they had previously turned down. The village of Aldbury Castle is swarming with spirits. What's more, Aldbury Castle is near a research facility run by the Rotwell Agency who it appears has been behind the purchase of artifacts that should have been thrown in the furnace. What they find inside the facility will change the very underpinnings of how society views The Problem. Their problem is staying alive long enough to let the world know.

While this series has always had Lucy at it's heart, with her moving out on her own she becomes even more important. This isn't about Lockwood and Co. anymore, this is about Lucy's relationship to Lockwood and Co. It's an interesting shift. Because partly it's like the first book with Lucy being the outsider, but at the same time we've spent three books with her building a relationship with Anthony and George and we have insider knowledge. It's an interesting liminal space to be in and ties in perfectly with the reveal at the end. Because Fittes and Rotwell, instead of actually fighting The Problem, they have been creating it by using sources to power a portal to the Other Side, which itself is a liminal space between life and death. This grey and lifeless mirror world isn't meant for the living and their intrusion is causing chaos. There is no balance between life and death anymore. The natural order of things has been damaged, perhaps beyond repair. This is the heart of the matter, humans mucking about can make everything worse. And unlike Penelope Fittes, Lucy, Anthony, and George, don't strive for power they strive for survival and normalcy. That's what these kids have all been fighting for, a world in which they can be kids. Though of course I would love to follow them forever and see there adventures as adults, I know there's only one book left to wrap it all up. Which I'm sad and also grateful for. Because while I love this world there are some quirks of Stroud's that really get on my nerves. Yes, I'm back to his body shaming yet again. Here it reaches a new level of unacceptable with the cannibal and his capacious corpse leaving belly streaks on the walls of his home. Firstly, how many people was Solomon Guppy eating? Because it sounds more of the gorging than of the eating to survive variety of killing. But more importantly, just no. I do not want to read about an obese Jeffrey Dahmer thank you very much. Really though, the belly streaks on the wall were the tipping point for me. Just so much no.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Body Shaming, Brixton Cannibal, Jonathan Stroud, Liminal Spaces, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, Marissa Frittes, The Creeping Shadow, The Problem, The Whispering Skull

The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 385 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

London is under siege. The Chelsea district is having a massive outbreak of hauntings. Every agency is being called in to help. Every agency but Lockwood and Co. Which gets under Lockwood's skin. But it's not like he has any spare time to complain at length. Every case that isn't a part of the Chelsea outbreak is falling to him, Lucy, and George, and they are overbooked. 35 Portland Row looks like a bomb has gone off. They haven't done laundry or dishes in weeks. Which makes it the perfect time for Lucy to get away. A few days off with her family will set her up nicely, plus the team is working better than ever before since Lockwood has let her and George more into his life and it's not like a few days off will change everything. Instead her family get on her nerves and when she returns early to Portland Row there's someone at her desk. Someone with perfect hair whom the boys are fawning over. This is Lucy's first impression of Holly Munro, Lockwood and Co.'s new assistant. Lucy is incensed. Sure the house is spotless, sure Lockwood had casually mentioned in passing hiring someone to clean up the place, but not Holly, not now. A few days off did change everything. Now Lockwood is letting Holly come on cases when she was supposed to stay back at Portland Row. Sure Holly's been able to introduce them to a new level of clientele because of her previous job at the Rotwell Agency, but Mrs. Wintergarden would have eventually come to Lockwood and Co. Probably. And while they take care of that haunting Lucy's obsession of attempting to communicate with spirits almost ends tragically. Lockwood is injured and it's all her fault. Her and her stupid Skull. But the case has given them the recognition they want, they are invited to investigate the Chelsea outbreak and to be a part of the big "Take Back the Night!" parade the Fittes and Rotwell agencies are putting on to boost morale. Which works exactly the opposite as they had intended. But through all the chaos one thing is always true, and that's George's ability to do better research than anyone and his research might have come up trumps.

This series is always a bit two steps forward one step back. There's a gangbuster plot, everything is on track, you think, this time, this time it's will be perfection, and then there's a treatise on George being chunky and Lucy unfavorably comparing herself to Holly. I mean the body shaming was the worst it's been yet in this volume and I can't help but think that these books are for younger readers and what message does that send to them? To me, being older and wiser, it just infuriates me, but if I had read this over and over when I was younger, it would have further fed into my body issues. Oh, and let's not forget the other stupid female stereotype this book feeds, let's throw in a female rivalry. Yes, I know it's stupid of the boys, Lockwood in particular, to bring in someone who would upset Lucy when as an agent calm is what is needed, but did Lucy and Holly really have to be rivals? Yes, they'll work everything out in the long run, blah, blah, but the enemy of a female shouldn't naturally be another female, just as a female shouldn't be forced into certain ideas of what their body should and shouldn't be. And while the body shaming is less present than the rivalry, which is a big plot point, it was an unnecessary plot point. There's this amazing apocalypse within an a apocalypse and we're going to focus on fat!?! OK, that makes absolutely zero sense. Also, I now find myself wondering what is the plural of apocalypse. Apocalypses? That seems lazy. But I love that the Problem is a slow burn end of days apocalypse while the Chelsea outbreak is an immediate apocalypse, like global warming versus the fall of democracy, both need to be taken care of but fixing one can help fix the other. Which brings me to something I found very interesting, this book was written in 2015 and yet it felt so very relevant. Life is horrible, here let us distract you with a parade. Which is then set upon by protesters. And those protesters, they really struck be forcibly. It felt like it was perfectly mirroring our world. But maybe the end days have a blueprint I never knew about?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Apocalypse, Body Image, Female Rivalry, George Cubbins, Holly Munro, Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, The Chelsea Outbreak, The Hollow Boy, The Problem

The Dagger in the Desk by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 31st, 2013
Format: Kindle, 46 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

School is somewhere where you should feel safe. Many children haven't been afforded the luxury of school since the Problem. They are needed to protect society from the ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night. They are the nation's first defense against the Problem. Therefore those lucky enough to receive an education deserve to feel safe. And the children attending St. Simeon’s Academy for Talented Youngsters have not been feeling safe. A ghost is stalking the halls and the headmaster is worried that the very sharp and very real dagger it wields might do harm to one of his students. Therefore he enlists the help of Lockwood and Co. After all they did get a big publicity bump after their handling of their perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall. They agree to take the case and Lockwood, George, and Lucy show up at the Academy that same evening. They set up base in the library, which is a beautiful new structure, and fan out from there. They take in the classroom with the dagger but Lucy is being drawn to a closet. What could a janitor's closet have to do with the dagger? Soon they are under a supernatural attack, books are flying everywhere, and it's just another night's work for Lockwood and Co.

This short story was apparently conceived as a collaborative piece with The Guardian, where readers could decide the location and title. I have to say, I agree, schools are the perfect place for hauntings. It's not just all the trauma and hormones that give schools that creepy vibe, it's something extra. Something about them being empty when they are usually filled with life. My Mom was a school librarian, so I spent quite a lot of time in my old school after hours. It was always slightly disconcerting and unsettling, especially the number of janitors they went through because they refused to be in the building at night. Now I never saw anything spooky there, and I have been known to see spooky things. I was even there at the witching hour once or twice, but again, saw nothing, out it felt off. I really enjoyed how this short story tapped into this unease. What's more, school is a place where Lockwood, George, and Lucy, wouldn't be attending, because they are so good at their job. So it was wistful and creepy. Though the worst crime the ghost did was to harm all those books in that beautiful new library!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Collaboration, Combe Carey Hall, George Cubbins, Jonathan Stroud, Library, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, School, Short Story, The Dagger in the Desk, The Guardian, The Problem

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: August 29th, 2013
Format: Kindle, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than on reviewed)

The Problem started about the middle of the last century. The dead no longer stayed dead. They roamed the street at night and were deadly to the living. Cemeteries were exhumed and the dead burned. Marissa Fittes and Tom Rotwell are credited with discovering the Problem and through their methods teaching others how to subdue paranormal phenomena by locating it's Source, the epicenter of it's haunting. Marissa set up the Fittes Agency and soon Tom set up the Rotwell Agency. And other psychic investigations agencies sprang up like mushrooms from corpses after that, one of them being Lockwood and Co. But the peculiarity of the Problem is that it is only children who can see and therefore destroy ghosts. The only adults on hand are those who were legends in their day but can no longer see ghosts and therefore have to pass on their knowledge to the younger generations now wielding psychic abilities. But not all children can see these supernatural foes. Some are blind to it, others are just slightly touched and aren't agency material, but some have special skills, from hearing, to touch, to smell. Lucy Carlyle is very talented. Any agency would kill to have her on their team. The problem is she left her last job under a bit of a cloud so she doesn't have the bona fides needed to secure a job at one of the prestige agencies, so instead she gets a job at Lockwood and Co. Before her job interview the "Lockwood" was young and dashing Anthony Lockwood and the "Co." was George Cubbins, the master of research if nothing else. They don't have uniforms, they don't have many jobs, but they have a nice headquarters at 35 Portland Row. After Lucy's job interview the "Co." increases by one. One night they are tackling what should be a simple case for their client, a Mrs. Hope, when things go pear-shaped. As in, they burn her house to the ground. With legal action being threatened they need a big case to pay off their client and keep the agency open. Which is why they accept a job at Combe Carey Hall. The estate is notorious. So many people have died there. So many investigators, even top trained Fittes investigators, have been victims to the house and the infamous Red Room. But as Lockwood says, they are desperate so they might as well go out with a bang. And if they succeed? Well, their name will be made and the agency secured.

If there's one thing I'm always looking for it's something spooky and Gothic to read. It's my comfort food. It's my jam. Ironically jam isn't my comfort food but that is a story for another time. Therefore when I was recommended the Lockwood and Co. series by someone whose opinion I trust I didn't really read anything about the series other than to get their elevator pitch of British teens dealing with paranormal phenomena. That right there was enough for me, Ghostbusters with a YA bent. But perhaps I wouldn't have had such a disconnect with the book for a long while if I had read a tad more about the series. Because everything I'd read made it sound very Dickensian. And the thing is that it is. It is very Dickensian. But set in modern day. Or a decade ago now because it was current day or near enough when it was written. I could not wrap my head around this for the longest time. They have swords and gas lights and then there was a television set, I was so confused. It almost took literally the whole book for me to make sense of this society that was trapped in a different time because all technological advances went to figuring out and fighting the Problem. But still, the start of the Problem was about the middle of the previous century, so shouldn't the tech have been more mid-century than this mishmash of what it is? Maybe what I'm trying to inarticulately say is that instead of jumping so headlong into the action I needed a little more explanation than the stumbling around in the dark until it clicked. In fact just a date would have been helpful. But on the bright side, when it clicked, it clicked. So what did it take? It took taking our three leads and dropping them in the middle of a classic haunted house story. They were just dropped in it at Combe Carey Hall. I mean, just that name sends a chill down my spine! It was just riddled with tropes from rooms filled with blood to ghostly monks to secret passageways, and of course a sinister staircase! Yet through it all Lucy, Lockwood, and George made it their own special story. It might have resembled everything from The Haunting of Hill House to The Legend of Hell House, which are personal favorites I might add, but it was it's own thing, which is a major feat given the preponderance of stories out there in the haunted house genre. More haunted houses less televisions please!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Combe Carey Hall, George Cubbins, Ghosts, Haunted House, Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, Psychic Investigations Agencies, The Problem, The Screaming Staircase

The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 15th, 2015
Format: Paperback, 385 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

London is under siege. The Chelsea district is having a massive outbreak of hauntings. Every agency is being called in to help. Every agency but Lockwood and Co. Which gets under Lockwood's skin. But it's not like he has any spare time to complain at length. Every case that isn't a part of the Chelsea outbreak is falling to him, Lucy, and George, and they are overbooked. 35 Portland Row looks like a bomb has gone off. They haven't done laundry or dishes in weeks. Which makes it the perfect time for Lucy to get away. A few days off with her family will set her up nicely, plus the team is working better than ever before since Lockwood has let her and George more into his life and it's not like a few days off will change everything. Instead her family get on her nerves and when she returns early to Portland Row there's someone at her desk. Someone with perfect hair whom the boys are fawning over. This is Lucy's first impression of Holly Munro, Lockwood and Co.'s new assistant. Lucy is incensed. Sure the house is spotless, sure Lockwood had casually mentioned in passing hiring someone to clean up the place, but not Holly, not now. A few days off did change everything. Now Lockwood is letting Holly come on cases when she was supposed to stay back at Portland Row. Sure Holly's been able to introduce them to a new level of clientele because of her previous job at the Rotwell Agency, but Mrs. Wintergarden would have eventually come to Lockwood and Co. Probably. And while they take care of that haunting Lucy's obsession of attempting to communicate with spirits almost ends tragically. Lockwood is injured and it's all her fault. Her and her stupid Skull. But the case has given them the recognition they want, they are invited to investigate the Chelsea outbreak and to be a part of the big "Take Back the Night!" parade the Fittes and Rotwell agencies are putting on to boost morale. Which works exactly the opposite as they had intended. But through all the chaos one thing is always true, and that's George's ability to do better research than anyone and his research might have come up trumps.

This series is always a bit two steps forward one step back. There's a gangbuster plot, everything is on track, you think, this time, this time it's will be perfection, and then there's a treatise on George being chunky and Lucy unfavorably comparing herself to Holly. I mean the body shaming was the worst it's been yet in this volume and I can't help but think that these books are for younger readers and what message does that send to them? To me, being older and wiser, it just infuriates me, but if I had read this over and over when I was younger, it would have further fed into my body issues. Oh, and let's not forget the other stupid female stereotype this book feeds, let's throw in a female rivalry. Yes, I know it's stupid of the boys, Lockwood in particular, to bring in someone who would upset Lucy when as an agent calm is what is needed, but did Lucy and Holly really have to be rivals? Yes, they'll work everything out in the long run, blah, blah, but the enemy of a female shouldn't naturally be another female, just as a female shouldn't be forced into certain ideas of what their body should and shouldn't be. And while the body shaming is less present than the rivalry, which is a big plot point, it was an unnecessary plot point. There's this amazing apocalypse within an a apocalypse and we're going to focus on fat!?! OK, that makes absolutely zero sense. Also, I now find myself wondering what is the plural of apocalypse. Apocalypses? That seems lazy. But I love that the Problem is a slow burn end of days apocalypse while the Chelsea outbreak is an immediate apocalypse, like global warming versus the fall of democracy, both need to be taken care of but fixing one can help fix the other. Which brings me to something I found very interesting, this book was written in 2015 and yet it felt so very relevant. Life is horrible, here let us distract you with a parade. Which is then set upon by protesters. And those protesters, they really struck be forcibly. It felt like it was perfectly mirroring our world. But maybe the end days have a blueprint I never knew about?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthony Lockwood, Apocalypse, Body Image, Female Rivalry, George Cubbins, Holly Munro, Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co., London Calling, Lucy Carlyle, The Chelsea Outbreak, The Hollow Boy, The Problem