The Age of Zeus by James Lovegrove...

As you, my four readers, already know, last weekend I got my lazy derrière all the way up to Page One in Vivo City and got myself "The Pantheon Trilogy" written by James Lovegrove.

After finishing the first of the trilogy, "The Age of Ra," I was a little dispirited but I started with the second book of the trirlogy, "The Age of Zeus," as soon as possible in order to finish with what I thought will be an ordeal. I am very happy to say that "The Age of Zeus" was a better read, all in all, and I do not regret buying all the trilogy at once.

The age of Zeus is a kind of militaristic science-fiction story set up in an alternate version of our earth. Note, that it is not militarisctic-science-fiction any more. Now, this book is proper scifi with powered robotic armor and genetically engineered humans in almost every page. But it remains a "kind of militaristic" as the description of strategy and tactics still lack that flow and feeling of military novels.

It seems that Lovegrove favors a very well defined three sections structure, with the introductions made in the first, again a hundred and something pages, the plot developed in the second reaching the climax by its end, now a three hundred and something pages of compact short stories dealing with well defined operations, and the third bringing the great finale, again a hundred and something.

This book is neither a prequel nor a sequel of Age of Ra. It is set in an alternate earth and only shares the motif with Age of Ra.

All in all, "The Age of Zeus" is a good, fast and no-brainer read, it took me some ten hours of bus and before-bed time, with a couple of interesting twists that you can imagine and figure out but they are not so plain, simple and clear as in "The Age of Ra."

Go and get your copy, you will enjoy it.

The Age of Ra by James Lovegrove...

Last weekend I got my lazy derrière all the way up to Page One in Vivo City and got myself "The Pantheon Trilogy" written by James Lovegrove. I came to the trilogy without any prejudice and without a clue. The books seemed to be either science-fiction or speculative-fiction. I took the bait and bought the three of them.

"The Age of Ra" is a kind of military-science-fiction work set in an alternate current time earth. I say "kind of" because it is not really that military, it lacks the vivid descriptions of tactical maneuvers of the military genre, and it is not really that scifi as the only futuristic equipment are the god-powered weapons and arms.

The book deals with an alternate modern era earth that is identical to ours but for the fact that the Egyptian Pantheon rule over the human population of the planet. In the beginning it brought memories of "The Lathe of Heaven" by the greatest Ursula K. Le Guin, but I was too fast to make the comparison.

The story is simple, it is quite possible that by the first hundred and something pages, where the first third of the book dealing with the introduction of characters finishes, you will figure out what will happen in the following first hundred and something pages, where the main plot develops and gets epic.

Actually, the book is a good no-brainer read. It flows easily, the plain story helps a lot with the flow, and I finished reading it in some seven hours distributed in mornings and afternoons at the bus and before-bed time.

Truth be honored, by the end of the book I was banging my head in the wall for buying the trilogy but I started the second one and I liked it better.

Last weekend movies...

Two of them were chosen by lovely Lyx and one by me. Of course, my choose was the teen movie...

1. Inception, *****
   
   Truth be told, I have become a fan of Christopher Nolan almost as much as I am a fan of Darren Aronofsky. Inception is beautifully piece of art; it's story, storytelling, photography and visual effects are as close to perfection as you can get. All of the actors make a good job portraying their characters. And, the best thing of them all, I never knew what was coming next. As you, my two readers, know, that is what wins my confidence vote. A must see!
   


2. Easy A, ****
   
   When I choose this film, I was expecting just another teen movie. One when I could just sit down, turn my brain off and relax. Do not jump to conclusions too fast, this is a no-brainer. But the story does not suck big time, the story telling is quite fluid and fresh and the actors manage to do their job. I was won when I realized the title was a reference to "The Scarlet Letter" of Nathaniel Hawthorne which still sits half read in my bookcase. It was great to see footage and good references to the 1926 film and not so good reference to the 1995 film, where the great Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall acted. If you have nothing to do and want to laugh a good time, this is your film.
   


3. It's Complicated, ***
   
   I cannot say that I wanted to watch this film. I really did not have a clue about what it was about. Moreover, I was starting to be afraid of the existence of a new kind of movie genre: the grown-up movie; that is a teen movie, but with grown up characters in the range from 40s to 70s instead of teens; the ones with characters in their 20s to 30s are called romantic comedies. And it is confirmed, this is everything a teen movie is but played with characters in their 60s. Anyway, the movie is good and a good laugh too.
   

I sat down and watched the latest episode of "The Big Bang Theory"; that is, episode 20 of season 4. It was back to see useless nerd saved by farm girl penny but yet not even close to being one of the best ones. So far this season was getting closer to the super funny first season and took a dump with this last episode.

I have also managed to finish the first two seasons of the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." I think I am starting to become a fan of animated films and television series. The Clone Wars fills in the gaps in between the second and third episodes of the Star Wars saga. This particular 3D CGI tv series is made in Singapore! Somewhere in this beautiful city, someone is animating Anakin Skywalker and all the Jedi council and making them wage war!

Last weekend movies...

I think I should change a piece of the title of this quasi-periodic post to last two months movies or something that reflects the elapsed period of time from one to another. Anyway, it has been a busy time finishing a paper and mending another for the next round of review but Lyx and I have managed to watch some movies on these weekends and I have cooled down as well watching some alone. As always whenever I get behind, just the title and a few words...

1. Cashback, *****
   Some of my all time favorites are English films and now this one just got into my list. Surreal, bizarre, illogical, and amazingly awesome visual storytelling. Why are you still here? Go for it!


2. Let me in, ***
   I was fascinated by Lindqvist novel "lat den ratte komma in." So fascinated that I am still trying to get the one about zombies and Stockholm. This is the American movie based on the book. In general, it is well done and has the dark feeling of the novel. It tells almost all the stories from the book with some concessions. While the stories doesn't patch together as tightly as in the book, the movie does not do bad. Hitta pa Svensk filmen!


3. Tangled, ***
   I have been a fan of recent animated films. The CGI mastering has really caught my eye. This retelling of Rapunzel is not the exception. O the fire and the water simulations! Awesome! Also, nice storytelling, lovely sidekicks (a horse than acts like a dog and a chameleon). Disney delivers.


4. Tron Legacy, ***
   Talking about CGI technology, rejuvenating Jeff Bridges is an awesome feat! I guess the film has the feeling of the original Tron. I cannot really remember as I was like 8yo. when it came to the nearest silver screen. I really didn't like the storytelling, it is more like a patch work than a continuous narrative.


5. Grown Ups, ***
   Laughed myself to the ground... What else can be done with this crew? By the way, I'm so bad at recognizing actors that I was telling Lyx "Chris Rock would be awesome for this character," of course she was fast enough to say "Love, that is Chris Rock."
   


6. Napoleon Dynamite, ***
   Obnoxious, dull, boring. Awesome way to tell the story! Very good moves!


7. Casino Jack, **
   Another film based on a true story about the shadowy political world. Don't get me wrong on the stars, Kevin Spacey plays a great role but that's it all.
   


8. The Social Network, **
   Another film based on a true story. So I guess this is one of I'm the good guy, you are the bad guy kinda movies.


9. Due Date, **
   Really, one star is due to Robert Downey Jr. Cheesy.


10. The Green Hornet, *
    I watched the B&W, as far as I remember, Green Hornet with Bruce Lee. Those were the awesome antiheroes. The Green Hornet and Kato have been rendered retarded in the current version.
    


11. Unstoppable, *
    Another film based on a true story. Really?

While January's weekends were spent reading about condensed matter physics, I decided to quit that and watch Castle, a tv series starring Nathan Fillon, the old captain from The Serenity a Firefly class space vessel and cult science fiction phenomenon brought to our tv sets by master comic/tv/musical/film writer Joss Whedon. I have had this writing project in my head for a few months. It deals with portraying some psychopath behavior of characters triggered by everyday events that show up in the Mexican news or that come from personal or friend's experiences. I was looking for something that can give me a feeling on this kind of pulp fiction without being pulp fiction. Enter Castle! It is the story of a blocked mystery writer, Richard Castle played by Fillon, turned police attaché in order to be close to his new inspiration muse. It is a must! So far the first two seasons are great.

The Damned

I have always wanted to sit down and write some story larger than a couple of pages. At first, I wanted it to be something scifi or fantastic; but then the drug war in Mexico broke and there were enough stories running in the papers and tv that seemed out of an alternate universe. That's when The Damned came to my mind.

The Damned: Someone, are my socio/psychopath profiling notes on possible characters. They are presented as is. As a monologue taken from notes from an investigative reporter. They will all be first working draft, whatever comes to my mind out of the news I have digested from the news outlets or the stories I have lived or the stories that my friends have lived. No polishing at all.

So far, there's a story that has repeated in some rural communities: not so good guys come, ask for a price, people try to defend, they have their balls broken by the government disarming them, so the town is later taken by those guys and the inhabitants of the place are displaced.

The second history is about the "welcome to reality" that comes by dealing with working in something you like and then finding corruption, dishonesty, and everything else that is to be found in that real world where people do not strive to do a good job but rather want the money, fame and recognition just for free. And of course, how your balls get broken in the process.

I have never tried to write pulp fiction. I found it way too depressive and doomed. Doomed, not in the heroic sense, that's why I don't like pulp fiction. But I guess that, with time, I'm becoming more and more cynic. I guess my way to deal with the disenchantment of this part of reality is to write The Damned.

Now, I'm not a total cynic. I have the most wonderful friends and acquaintances that make everything easier. I still believe that selfishness and the joy of a job well done can change everything and I'm sure that this will find a way into The Damned sooner or later.

Cheers!