A Review of Into Darkness

Darkiss Reads have posted an interesting review of Into Darkness here

London to host the greatest show in the galaxy!

From the BFS:

The World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is coming to London in 2014 – and it’s bringing some of the biggest stars in science fiction and fantasy with it.

The Dark Knight Rises - A Review

I saw The Dark Knight Rises a little while ago, but it has taken me this long to get my thoughts straight about it. I’m in a minority, but not really flying in the face of adversity to say that it’s a fairly average action flick; good, but not great. But my next statement probably is going to be (flying in the face of adversity that is). Considering this as the final part of the “reinvented” Batman trilogy, as the culminating piece to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises is awful! Absolutely, undeniably terrible!

Sure, there are some entertaining moments and, to reiterate; as a simple action flick it’s not bad. But seriously, what the hell were they thinking?

Ok, so here are the reasons why The Dark Knight Rises is so terrible. (Warning, if you are one of the few people in the world not to have seen it yet do expect spoilers)

Can we have a John Constantine movie, please?

"All His Engines" (2005)
As Constantine should be

A couple of days ago I re-watched "Constantine", the 2005 movie starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. As a fan (and collector) of the Hellblazer comic books I was very excited when news of a film based on them emerged, and very disappointed when I got to see it. Following its release it recieved mixed reviews, coming out with an aggregated score of about 5 to 6. in my opinion that's about right. Once my outrage on first seeing the movie (John Constantine as a shotgun toting American? WTF!?!) had lessened, I was able to watch it as a film in its own right. If you disconnect it from the comics (as the film-makers seem to have done) it's basically an ok film.
In my opinion that is a very sad thing.
If you don't know what I'm talking about see the very good wiki entry here.
John Constantine is a complex, flawed and quintessentially british (cynical) antihero character with a large fanbase. The world he moves in is intriguing and sometimes spectacular. The interaction between the two can be haunting, funny, frightening and, always, engaging. In short, a John Constantine movie has the ingredients to be one of the best films of all time (and that's without even touching on some of the other interesting characters in his world). John has been voted the 3rd greatest comic book character of all time (link) directly behind Batman and Superman. Look what they managed to do with Batman in the Dark Knight - by staying faithful to the character of Batman (and, admittedly, the Joker), whilst trying to give the film a feel of realism, they made a film that blew people away. It's a simple formula (and one they're now trying to apply to Superman and Spiderman) so surely it makes sense to apply it to Constantine?

A note on Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term meant to encompass the more fantastical fiction genres, including; science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history. The following is my own opinion on this matter.

The term has been used to express dissatisfaction with what some people consider the limitations of, or otherwise to designate fiction that is not easily categorised into, stereotypical genres. The view is that such work should not be pigeonholed within such categorical limits as "fantasy" etc.
Although the term may be used to signal a wish not to be pigeonholed as a fantasy writer, and a desire to break out of the genre’s conventions, I suspect it has more to do with a desire to escape the prejudice with which fantasy is often met by mainstream critics. Personally, I find this term generally offensive, as though fans of fantasy (and related genres) should be ashamed of their enjoyment of such a “frivolous” genre. Also, I understand the difficulty readers experience in finding books to their taste and I believe that placing all fantastical genres under a new umbrella term will make this process even more problematic.
The use of this term is bowing to the discrimination of the pseudo-intellectual. It is disguising the genres in a manner designed to lend some kind of literary merit in the eyes of such people. We should not demean ourselves in such a way. Fantasy is already an umbrella term that encompasses work with fantastical themes, and the sub-genres are there to help guide readers in finding their preferred type of fantastical work. Please do not bow to snobbery. Embrace your love of fantasy. Learn more about it and tell those who look down their nose at the genre to do the same. If they don’t that is their loss!

The Definitive Fantasy Reading List

Despite the title of this post, allow me to start with the usual disclaimer; this is not a list of all books in the genre (you try fitting that on a blog!) and therefore you may not agree with all of my choices.

Ok, with that out of the way, let me tell you what I’ve tried to do. What follows is an overview of the genre; providing a definitive reading list. I have put a lot of thought into what would constitute the best of fantasy for someone wanting to explore the genre. What follows is a detailed list of the books that (IMO) constitute a must read catalogue for all fantasy fans. It provides a guide for those starting out in their exploration of the genre as well as a check list for those who think they’ve read everything on offer.

RIP - McCaffrey

As reported in BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15877338), Anne McCaffrey, creator of Pern and one of the genre's greats, has sadly passed away.
Best wishes to her family and friends.