Tag Archives: Review

Watch List – Digital Circus

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Animation has always been part of my media world. As far back as I can remember, there has always been some form of ‘cartoon’ that I was watching. They were classified or cataloged or somehow figured as a child’s demographic for a very long time. Then, somewhere along the way a bright person realized they’d never really been for kids, or at least not exclusively so and started to market things as ‘adult animation’.

There have been any number of shows I’ve become a big fan of that are stashed into that category.

Lately, it feels like the creators of animated shows have been abusing that demographic box. Putting in the kind of gore, violence or ludicrous situations that would never make the cut if there were actors that needed to create a physical display of those things.

Then there are things like Digital Circus.

The company behind this animated series says they create animated shows that are fun, colorful with occasional violence and existential breakdowns. What they should have included is a story with some kind of plot line to keep me interested.

Is Digital Circus colorful? Yes, absolutely. It is bright and filled with primary colors almost constantly. Is it fun? That’s debatable. I don’t think so really – and that’s all based on the ‘existential breakdowns’ part.

The main character in the 4 episode series I watched on Netflix is named Pomni. She’s a jester like person who is dropped into an insane place with other oddly compiled characters. None of them know what’s going on. None of them can explain why they’re there. Nobody has any sense of where things are going or why. Not even the person watching the show, and that’s a problem for me. There’s got to be something if you want me to stay interested. Do we know there’s a secret lurking? Is there something in common between all the oddball personalities roaming this circus tent? Anything?

Each of the four episodes had a loose storyline of what the characters did, but it wasn’t compelling. It took me a month to get through these short episodes because I kept nodding off. By the end I was starting to feel a little manic, like Gangle in the Food Masquerade (and that episode isn’t existential, it’s an indictment of the fast food business).

In all, I’m going to put the digital circus down as ‘the bad’ that will be used in comparison to other, better shows. There are better things to watch out there.

Side note: This site has information about the series. There are things they say there that make sense upon reading it, but were in absolutely no way clear by simply watching the show.

The Watch List

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For a while I was writing a monthly review of viewing suggestions and reviews of various science fiction media. I got away from writing that after a number of posts for a couple of reasons. First, writing on a schedule like that, while great for keeping the writing muscles strong was not allowing me to focus on my fiction. Second, the article series felt like it had run its course and Watch The Skies needed something different to keep things fresh.

Lastly, and I think most importantly to me, there was a need to keep things more positive than I was feeling at the time. It’s a much more challenging prospect to find something that’s actually good (in one’s own opinion) and then clearly lay out all the positive aspects of it. It’s important to work on positive things – tearing another person’s work down is easy – finding all the good things to say is the bigger challenge. This actually ties in to the reason I bring all of my genuinely negative reviews of books I read here. If I’m going to be negative about something I’m going to own it. I don’t want to be the troll that just tosses garbage out on whatever site I happen to be on at the time. I understand how difficult it is to create something and send it out to the world. I’ve had negative feedback and I don’t particularly like it, so I try not to be that kind of jerk to others.

Having said all that, here’s where I’m going. I’ve posted one recently (last week’s ‘not a secret’) and I plan to continue to post commentary on the things I’m watching – good, bad or indifferent. As I go forward, I’m just going to put all the thoughts out there. I know that has worked for me for other reviewers in the past… even when I disagreed. If they hated it, I would consider that a solid recommendation.

I hope that my ones of fans will appreciate the honest reviews and use those to fine tune the things on the watch list – even if it means watching the exact opposite of the things I recommend.

Poetry

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Birches by Robert Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I am not a fan of poetry in general, Robert Frost has always been a poet I have enjoyed reading. Adding illustrations and creating visuals to go along with the words is excellent.

This book was a gift to me this year and I’m quite glad I took a few minutes to read it. It’s a single poem – it’s not long – but it’s nice. I miss living where birch trees grow.



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Inspiration

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I am a very visual person. I LOVE to page through, read and take inspiration from art books. I can’t say that I’m a collector or a connoisseur, but I just have to dig into them. They routinely provide inspiration for me to work on things of various natures. Sometimes they inspire frustration because I’m not as good as a professional, but intellectually I understand – that’s why they’re the pros.

Images like the one pictured here (all credit to John Harris) have seeped into my mind. They’ve snuck into the cracks and crannies and lived there without me realizing it for my whole life. I have a story (unpublished) where I actually have something similar to the image above as part of the story. Totally unconscious choice. The artist’s work exists in the background all the time in my head – I just don’t often see as direct a translation as this.

I have other art books that I will likely go back and dig into now, just to revisit them and see if there are other bits that have snuck into my work. Until I get back to those, here is my review from over on Goodreads.

The Art of John Harris: Beyond the Horizon by John Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This rating should really be more like 4.5 stars. Reading a book like this with all the amazing images accompanying the work is a genuine pleasure.

I hadn’t realized how deep these images had settled into my mind until I read this book. The works are definitely “bookstore iconic” as Mr. Scalzi says in his foreward. Seeing the scale and scope of what the artist created and then recognizing any number of these works from books currently residing on my shelf really brought home how good this art is.

Another aspect is the opportunity to read what the artist was thinking while creating these works. His story that went along with various images was great to read.

IF you’re a fan of science fiction art, this is a worth addition to your collection.



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Night Winds

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The first book of Kane.

Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is another foray into old school sword and sorcery for me. I have this paperback series on the shelf. I read them many years ago and I recall that I was super impressed with them back when I read them in the 80s. I was happy to see these books were available in e-reader format since I didn’t want to take the chance that I might damage the old books.

There are two parts to this review. The writing and the covers.

First – while I understand that matching Frazetta’s isn’t going to happen, the gay romance cover art really set me off. That pose, the terrible sword, the wrong color hair… it was genuinely off putting. Romance photo shoot guy is clearly muscular enough, but it’s just all wrong. At least get a darker background? The cover is so far off from the book it became a distraction.

So, the writing. I understand why I liked them when I read them as a youth. A powerful character who was more than just brawn. Planning, maneuvering, striking only when the time was right and then overpowering the enemies – exactly the sort of thing I would be drawn to.

Reading these stories now, as a more mature reader, I see where they fit in their time. Much like the Black Company (finished and reviewed recently) it is an example of the times. Casual misogyny, rape, murder and misdeeds fill the book. There are mutilations, revenge and horrible deaths. Kane, the cursed man traveling through these various stories seems… less invincible than he did when I read him as a youth. It also feels like there should be more of his curse, some evidence of his longevity more than speculation and hints.

I wanted to be more enthusiastic about this series upon rereading it, but it just fell short. Still good. Still an excellent example of old school sword and sorcery, just not as ‘amazing’ as I remembered. Worth reading if you want to dig into that old school stuff.



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Seriously – between the two? I’m taking the one on the left every single time.

Day Zero

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Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It almost took me zero days to read this one!

The writing here grabbed me right from the start. This was an engaging, thoughtful story with very believable characters. Things happened in the greater world, but the story stayed tight on Ezra and his Nany-bot. Seeing big events through the small window of people not associated with them was excellent. It gave time for reflection and a lot of philosophical thought.

I did like the action. It was slow and purposeful, at least at first. Toward the end, things felt a little rushed. There were some fantastic images in there and I kind of hope this gets turned into a movie. I’d love to see the teddy bear nany-bot with a minigun on top of a bus.

This is absolutely worth the read AND I’d absolutely recommend reading the dedication and acknowledgements. Well done all around. Go grab this one.



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Wherein there are complaints

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The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Wherein the reader complains about the writing style and stilted phrasing of the story.

I’m grudgingly giving this book three stars, but it was closer to two for me. Perhaps two and a half. The writing style was very difficult to just sit with, the flow wasn’t great. The main character was a challenge to relate to. I will say she was portrayed well for what she was meant to be, but not really something that works well for me.

There was some interesting world building. The mystery was… there, though I think I figured most of it out early on. Then, about 2/3 of the way through the whole thing just kind of bogged down for me.

This style clearly has an audience. I did read it all the way through, so there’s that. I don’t suspect I’ll be going back for more.



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Black Company

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The Black Company by Glen Cook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have an old copy of this paperback. I got it when I was younger and tried to read it. I couldn’t get into it. I tried again later when I heard a famous author sing the praises of the story. I couldn’t get into it then.

This month it was the selected book for Watch The Skies. I tried again, and apparently the third time is the charm. I managed to get through the whole thing.

I understand now why there was praise for this book. I get it from the intellectual point of view, but it was not the page turning masterpiece that some others had claimed. It’s decidedly old school sword and sorcery fantasy. There is casual misogyny in there. Rape, murder and abuse are in there too. It is decidedly of it’s time. Also – the part that likely drew the praise – it is unlike other ‘heroic’ fantasy of its contemporaries because the main character(s) fights for the villain. Croaker is an unreliable narrator and not a hero in any real sense. The Black Company earns the name – black hearts all.

There is an really good quote from this work, “Evil is relative… You can’t hang a sign on it. You can’t touch it or taste it or cut it with a sword. Evil depends on where you are standing, pointing your indicting finger.”

There are tidbits like that throughout the book. The story is solid. The characters are believable, if not likable and the book has a reasonable conclusion. In all, if you want to dig into sword and sorcery from back in the day, this book is for you.



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Defiance

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The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I recommend you go get this book if you’re a fan of modern fantasy. It’s not ‘urban fantasy’ in the way of the wave of current day, hidden magic stories but it is evocative of that same aesthetic from the early 1900s. There are bits of historic religious practices (I think that’s how VooDoo is categorized) combined with the reality of life for the characters at that time in the world.

The area and the characters are so real. There was romance and drama. Concern for the ripples a ‘heroic action’ would send out into the world. It had action as well, with spells and thugs and stakeouts leading to police raids and chases.

I went through this book in a rush and was completely satisfied when I finished it. Go and read this author’s work!





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Nameless

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The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a Watch The Skies choice. I suspect I would have missed it if not for the book club selecting it. I look forward to the discussion on it… because it isn’t something I would have picked.

This story does fall into the new ‘cozy’ category. It’s not a high stakes, save the world type story. It takes place entirely inside the restaurant and the adjoining kitchen. There may be repercussions outside the entry doors, but we don’t see that. We see almost nothing in terms of action actually.

I think this is an odd cross between a character study and a food network show pitch.

It’s clear and well written. It has interesting characters. It clearly loves food and cooking. There are hints at powers and politics, but all of that is wiped away by dessert. I will say I like it, but I don’t know that I’ll be reading more. It’s good, I’m just not sure it’s for me.



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