Video: Puppet History - The Dancing Plague

I came across this on youtube recently and it's fantastic. Set up as a kind of quiz show for two contestants, a puppet leads them through the Dancing Plague of Strasbourg in the 1500s. Warning: This is NOT a show for children. There is some swearing and the history itself gets quite dark.

The show appears to be a new series by the Watcher channel, they only have 4 episodes up so far.

Book Review: The Perfect Assassin by K. A. Doore

Pros: good worldbuilding, interesting setting and characters

Cons: opening felt a bit slow

When the newly trained assassin Amastan discovers a drum chief’s body hidden on a rooftop, he’s tasked with proving that his clan of assassins wasn’t responsible. But the unknown killer isn’t the only danger, as the unquieted jaani (souls) of the murdered are restless, not dissipating as they ought, and trying to possess new bodies. With few leads Amastan’s time is running out, even as he befriends the servant of the first victim and begins to feel love for the first time.

It took me a while to warm to Amastan. The first few chapters show how undecided and hesitant he is, trying to plan things to perfection. As his relationship with various characters grew, I started to like him a lot more. It was interesting seeing the assassin clan portrayed as merely helping the city get rid of bad people. It makes the concept and characters easier to sympathize with.

I was surprised Tamella, his trainer and head assassin, left him to solve the murder without any advice or consultation. I can understand that she couldn’t investigate things herself, but she had knowledge that would have aided Amastan. Instead she simply blamed him for not solving it fast enough despite his having no training in detective work.

The worldbuilding was really good. I did like that Amastan and the other assassin trainees had real jobs to pay bills and keep occupied around their secondary craft. I also liked that they actually worked at those jobs. Menna’s work with the elders, quieting jaani was interesting. The jaani themselves were cool and terrifying. I also liked seeing the healers dependent on water for their work, and how towards the end of the season that’s problematic as the desert city must ration it. Reading characters running across rooftops and down narrow alleys was entertaining.

While I figured out who the killer was fairly early, it was still interesting seeing the story unfold.

It was a fun, quick read.

This is the first book in a trilogy. The final volume, The Unconquered City, is out June 16th.

Video: Star Wars tribute

A few months ago Whitney Avalon, who does Princess Rap Battles among other videos on youtube, did a tribute to Carrie Fisher. It's a song about Star Wars to the tune of "Memory" from the musical CATS.

Movie Review: Vivarium

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, 2019
IMDb listing

Pros: creepy, psychological horror

Cons: some annoying parts, very slow moving

A young couple are trapped in a strange subdivision and told they’ll be released once they raise a mysterious child.

I watched this film knowing nothing about it ahead of time and rather enjoyed it. It’s a slow moving horror film, with some great anxiety producing moments and a claustrophobic feel. There are also some science fiction elements.

After I finished I was surprised to find it advertised as a sci-fi triller. It’s not a thriller, by any stretch. It’s psychological horror dealing with the uncertainty of what’s going on and the growing horror that the child they’re raising isn’t human.

The cuckoo reference at the beginning was a bit heavy handed, but definitely primes you for the creepiness of what’s coming.

I think the film would have benefitted from having a bit more set up with the couple, perhaps seeing them check out another house together before getting trapped so we see more of how they interact when times are good. While I thought Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots did a great job over all of making things seem off, I didn’t feel they had much chemistry as a couple. I felt like their relationship was already falling apart before the film started so their drifting apart during the film didn’t impact me that much.

Senan Jennings, the actor who played the younger version of the boy, was brilliant. He’s unsettling and the right kind of slightly off in performing human actions to be creepy and alien. Though his screaming did get on my nerves and I couldn’t understand why the couple didn’t try to discipline him in some way to stop that. At the same time you can see that they’re trying to maintain a detached attitude towards the boy by only interacting with him as much as they have to.

The ending was a bit trippy and open to some interpretation.

Not sure I'd see it again but I'm glad I saw it.

Books Received in April, 2020

Many thanks as always to the publishers that sent me books for review this past month.

The Perfect Assassin by K. A. Doore - I've already finished this and will be posting my review of it soon. Book 3, The Unconquered City, comes out June 16th.

Divine justice is written in blood.

Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he’s already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.

Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very important drum chief. Until, impossibly, Basbowen’s finest start showing up dead, with their murderous jaan running wild in the dusty streets of Ghadid. Until, inevitably, Amastan is ordered to solve these murders, before the family gets blamed.

Every life has its price, but when the tables are turned, Amastan must find this perfect assassin or be their next target.

First Sister by Linden Lewis - This debut novel sounds really interesting. Out August 4th.

Combining the social commentary of The Handmaid’s Tale with the white-knuckled thrills of Red Rising, this epic space opera follows a comfort woman as she claims her agency, a soldier questioning his allegiances, and a non-binary hero out to save the solar system.

First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you’re falling in love.

Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart.

A stunning and sweeping debut novel that explores the power of technology, colonization, race, and gender, The First Sister is perfect for fans of James S.A. Corey, Chuck Wendig, and Margaret Atwood.

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson - This is the third in a planned 4 book series. I have really enjoyed the previous two books and can't wait to dive into this. The release date has been moved from June to August 11th.

The hunt is over. After fifteen years of lies and sacrifice, Baru Cormorant has the power to destroy the Imperial Republic of Falcrest that she pretends to serve. The secret society called the Cancrioth is real, and Baru is among them.

But the Cancrioth's weapon cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. If it escapes quarantine, the ancient hemorrhagic plague called the Kettling will kill hundreds of millions...not just in Falcrest, but all across the world. History will end in a black bloodstain.

Is that justice? Is this really what Tain Hu hoped for when she sacrificed herself?
Baru's enemies close in from all sides. Baru's own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path—a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world's riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize.

If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

Book Review: Building the Great Cathedrals by Francois Icher

Translated by Anthony Zielonka

Pros: lots of large illustrations and photographs, goes over the entire process, easy to read

Cons: some extraneous information, refutes bad information by first teaching it to the reader

The book consists of six chapters: The Age of the Cathedrals; Patronage, Financing, and the Workshop Committee; The Architect; Before Reaching the Cathedral Construction-site; The Cathedral Construction-site; and The Memory of the Builders. I was hoping for a more in depth explanation of how cathedrals are built, from beginning to end. This turned out to be a very basic primer of the process. Turns out that’s all I really needed. There are over 200 colour photos, making this is a luscious book. It’s oversized so the photos are also quite large. There’s a good mix with a lot of building images and photos from various cathedrals.

The emphasis here is on French cathedrals and guilds, branching out briefly to touch on other places. I found it a bit annoying how the author kept refuting beliefs. Yes, it’s important to correct misconceptions but I’d prefer that be done by simply explaining the correct answer rather than taking up room to teach the bad information first. I also found the short chapter on whether a modern French confraternity descends from the medieval guilds unnecessary.

The last chapter includes information on a sketchbook that survives from the middle ages which reproduces many cathedral design elements. That was fantastic. I also appreciated the translations of some of the guild regulations for stonecutters.

This is a basic guide to the construction of cathedrals - from start to finish - whose illustrations really make it worth the price.

Book Review: Pheonix Unbound by Grace Draven

Pros: good world-building, interesting characters

Cons: the world is brutal, begins with a rape

Gilene is the village of Beroe’s sacrifice for the Rites of Spring, and due to her ability to control fire, has been for the past few years. Her actions keep the other women in her village safe from harm but extract a severe price from her. When she’s recognized through her illusion spell by the Gladiator Prime Azarion, he blackmails her into helping him escape the coliseum and the Empire itself. As a fire witch, he needs her to reclaim his rightful place as heir to his clan.

This is a fantasy novel that follows the beats of a category romance novel. Despite it’s happily ever ending though, the world is brutal and the book itself begins by explaining that the heroine has been raped in the past as part of her duties as a sacrifice, while graphically showing the rape of the hero by the Empress, a scene I could have done without.

These actions set a tone for the book that I was never able to recover from. The author does a great job of showing how, over time, the couple begins to overcome their meeting (Azarion’s abduction and threatening of Gilene) to slowly kindle romantic feeling for each other. A fair amount of time passes over the course of the book, making this feel believable.

I really liked both Gilene and Azarion as characters. Gilene is responsible and pragmatic, even in the face of her imposed ‘duty’. The scene at the beginning where she disrobes, ready to be raped and done, is heartwrenching but really does show what a survivor she is. Azarion has lived through similar horrors and I was surprised that this was never used as a way to bring them closer together emotionally - that they never talked to each other (or other characters) as a way of dealing with and trying to heal from their traumas. I did like his determination and spirit and learning about his tribe was interesting.

Their rape is never formally addressed between them and thus hangs over everything they do. When they finally make love, Gilene thinks back to the last man she was with (ie, her previous rape). Not only is this off-putting to the reader it shows that she’s never really dealt with the trauma of the horrors she’s been through. Thinking back on this later, I wish the author had eased them into the physicality of sex as much as she’d eased them into their emotional connection. Yes, they share a bed and end up cuddling, but there’s no measure of, this is how sex with a willing partner differs from an unwilling, and I think the characters (and I as a reader) needed that. I also think it would have been interesting to see Azarion discuss how his only (only recent at any rate) experiences of sex were violent and filled with fear and anger, asking for advice on how to give (and feel) pleasure. I found it bizarre that the author would bring up such a heavy emotional event and then not try to show actual healing via therapy of some sort. Because as much as Gilene’s pragmatism makes her willing to undergo rape, that’s not the same as healing from it and being ready for an actual emotional and physical connection.

The world-building was very good. I liked that there are several types of magic and that some magics come with a cost. There are several interconnected political and economic groups (the Empire, various tribes, guilds, tradesmen). The Savatar were fleshed out as a people with a lot of customs setting them off from the Empire.

I loved that both characters get satisfying climaxes for their different plot arcs. The ending was great.

If you’re looking for a feel good, fluffy read, give this a pass. If you like grimdark fantasy but want more romance, this is for you.