Review: Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts 05) by Stacia Kane

Book info:
Form: pdf format
Genre: urban fantasy + romance
Target audience: adults only

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.

As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

What I liked:

Once again it was a very entertaining, highly readable installment. Book 5 in the Downside Ghosts series moves at a great pace, with the action revolving around tainted drugs and an army of ghost-infused junkie zombies. Awesome :) The last 25% of the plot is a constant rush.

Chess and Terrible's relationship is developing just fine, thank you very much. Of course Chess is insecure like hell and Terrible is a tad too jealous for his own good but overall I am not tired by them, not yet.Thankfully, Terrible and Chess haven't turned into the one of those boring book couples like Cat/Bones, Mercy/Adam amd Sookie/Eric.There is a strong focus on their relationship throughout the story. Working together, you get to see the respect, pride and absolute trust that they have for each other. Lex is an annoying piece of gangster crap but I hope he'll stay that way because I wouldn't like to see any evil love triangles, nuh huh.

What's more, Chess is one of the most unlikely heroines you will ever read about in any sort of romance, not just urban fantasy. She’s a liar, a cheat, a junkie. She’s arrogant, stubborn, impulsive, and full of self-loathing and self-sabotage. She just can't cope with bad (and most good) feelings so she turns to drugs to block everything out. She might annoy you from time to time but she'll never bore you.

What really makes this series, however, is Ms. Kane’s ability to make the reader actually care what happens to all of her characters. It’s not just Chess, and Terrible, and for some readers, Lex and Blue. It’s the Elders, Bump, even some of the minor characters that we meet in pipe rooms and back alleys.

What I didn't like:

It seems the Church won't see any honest-to-gods competition any time soon and I do lament that fact. I am also not very satisfied with Chess's opponents - so far all of them have been a bunch of evil losers who had dabbled in dark magic because they were power-crazy, greedy b******s. A nice, three-dimensional baddie, somebody for whom you might feel a tiny amount of sympahty, would really make me happier. Bump? Are you ready for your new role? I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Apart from that let me tell you just this: after five installments full of Cesaria's adventures in the Downside Wonderland I feel it's time to change the formula a bit because it is getting old. In every book there was plenty of trouble occurring in Downside, and of course Chess was expected to solve any magical issues that had arised, and of course they somehow affected her legitimate working life not to mention her pill-taking habits.I suppose it's high time for some real problems catching up with our girl. I hope Chess will at least realize that her drug addiction, getting worse and worse, is something which has been steadily ruining her life. The most epic battles usually you fight with yourself and let me tell you, dear Cesaria, I suppose your turn has come.

Final verdict:

A great UF series but I think being on the brink of changing, for better or for worse.I cannot wait for book six to come out but it might be the last one  to be read by me. I hope for the best of course, I have a feeling Ms Kane is going to a certain direction with Chess' development and I like that heroine and these books, I really do. Still there comes a point where it gets just a little bit dull and if it doesn't change soon I might ditch Chess after all.

Movie review: The Cabin in the Woods by Drew Goddard

Directed by Drew Goddard
Genre: Mystery and suspense horror
Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

Cast:
Dana: Kristen Connolly
Jules: Ana Hutchinson
Holden: Jesse Williams
Curt: Chris Hemsworth
Marty: Fran Kranz



Synopsis:

Five college students, Dana, Jules, Holden, Curt and Marty, want to spend a weekend far from the civilised world, in the middle of nowhere. Curt's cousin owes a cabin in the woods near a small lake which seems like a perfect location. They arrive there, explore the old building and find a creepy basement with all kinds of 'toys', a hand-written diary among them. When Dana reads some Latin verses from it she seals their destiny. Bad things are going to happen soon and they've just chosen how they are going to die. Or maybe not?

My impressions:

This is a movie best seen with a minimum of foreknowledge, so I'll try to spoil as little as possible while explaining why I liked this one.

First of all there are two interwoven narratives taking place simultaneously: the one in the woods with the kids goofing around and another, at a secret bunker of the military-industrial complex, where two beleaguered company men, along with a large cadre of technicians, accountants, interns, and various other drones, are hard at work, doing—well, something spooky and definitely secret, perhaps even illegal. Soon enough you are not sure whether the whole premise is a practical joke, invented by some goverment people, or something more sinister.

 It is obvious Whedon and Goddard revel in toying with audience expectation, messing with archetypes, taking genres, chewing them up (while biting that tongue in their cheeks) then spitting them back out again in some glisteningly new form. For the most part it’s a hoot, tailor-made for those out there who like to whoop at the kills rather than vicariously drench themselves in primal terror and gore. The dialogue is sharp, poking good-natured fun at horror traditions with a twist. I admit that the spooky underground corridors, chilly vision of the future and skilful blending of horror with social comment recall a bit Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Now about the ending. The Cabin In The Woods ends up as the more biting satire on the entertainment industry, man’s appetite for violence and older people’s love-hate relationship with youth. Let me also assure you that I’m not spoiling anything by saying that. It’s clear from very early on that our two boffins are desensitised workers in an entertainment machine that regards human life as something that can be cavalierly ended in order to appease the audience.Who and what that audience is, the movie leaves teasingly uncertain until a big guest star cameo reveals all — but it may not be the answer you’re expecting.

Final verdict:

Is The Cabin in the Woods a great film? Of course not. But it is a devilishly cunning entertainment, being about 20-30 IQ points brighter than you expect it to be, a fun ride to an unknown direction. It’s much cleverer and more mature than The Hunger Games, but it’s about very similar things. If you want to enjoy it, though, DO NOT watch the trailer (that's why I don't publish one here.)

Ashes of Honor (October Daye 06) by Seanan McGuire

Book info:
Form: pdf
Genre: UF
Target audience: older YA and adults

Other parts in this series:

• Rosemary and Rue (October Daye, Book 1)
• A Local Habitation (October Daye, Book 2)
• An Artificial Night (October Daye, Book 3)
• Late Eclipses (October Daye, Book 4)
• One Salt Sea ( An October Daye Novel, Book 5)
• Ashes of Honor (An October Daye Novel, Book 6)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

It’s been almost a year since October “Toby” Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day’s sleep. She’s tried to focus on her responsibilities—training Quentin, upholding her position as Sylvester’s knight, and paying the bills—but she can’t help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters.

To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn’t even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She’s a teleporter, like her father. She’s also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped.

Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby’s help with the biggest challenge he’s ever faced.

Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea.

What I liked: 

I've always liked the fae from Irish and, more generally, Celtic mythology and Seanan McGuire can write about them like few other authors. You know, she can create the right atmosphere.  No matter whether October fights her opponents, falls in love with Tybalt or recovers from heavy blood loss she is always a little bit out of this world. Which makes her unique.

The plot this time was a little more easy to follow but still the book remained a page-turner, to be devoured in one evening. We deal here with another missing child; a changeling teleporter who is not aware of her potential but eager to explore it. Which is doubly problematic since Toby can't exactly follow a teleporter around and the girl must be stopped before she does some serious damage to the fairy lands. That's when it helps to have friends in high places, such as the Luidaeg, a  Sea Witch who can make a spell for almost any occasion, or a King of Cats who can travel through the shadows, which is almost the same thing as teleporting, but significantly more uncomfortable for a non-Caith Sidhe like Toby.

The best bits for me in this book were seeing the character developments. It's been a year since the last book (in Toby time as well as our time), and much has changed: Quentin, who's around 18 now, is growing up fast. May is becoming more and more like the twin sister people think she is. The Luidaeg still hasn't killed Toby and it seems she won't be willing to do so, no matter the circumstances. And maybe, just maybe, Tybalt doesn't 'dislike' our heroine as much as she once  believed.

What I didn't like:

In this part the author first introduces a certain kind of goblin  fruit which is like a drug to all fae, changelings and humans; then there are no consequences. I wonder what happened: a sudden change in the plot or just a bit of info which might be useful later? Anyway it sounded off - I waited and waited for the said fruit to be mentioned again, in vain.  I admit I also didn't get the meaning of the title. Ashes? What ashes? Of whose honour? Ok, maybe I am not exactly sharp after this year's Christmas but I really think the title needs some explaining...

Apart from that the fact that the author and/or the editor want to make every single installment a stand-alone started to grate on me a bit. You see, in almost every chapter you find those annoying infodumps - small but still noticeable. Let's face it, after six books the info becomes more and more repetitive, especially if you, like me, are a faithful fan so you've read every single one of them. Would it be so difficult to include a synopsis as an introduction - to be skipped or read according to your particular needs?

Finally my last carping. Toby is a nice enough character, but I think she spends  too much time almost dead and having her friends rescue her and patch her up. It is hardly realistic . I know heroes are supposed to get hurt and overcome it, but they shouldn't get their ass handed to them in *every* fight and in every installment. Not to mention the fact that even the biggest heroes need some downtime to recover, think about their lives, clean the flat, go shopping, if only online, and do normal, day-to-day  stuff. I do hope such moments will be awarded to Toby in the near future.

Final verdict:

The whole series is far from perfect but the main heroine makes it worth reading anyway. Now more than ever October Daye ranks as a nuanced, fascinating fictional character. She is independed, she kicks butt in her unique way and the fae world building is really fantastic. It was satisfying to see October and Tybalt getting what they really want, and there was some progress made towards the deeper mysteries of the series.

Silent Sunday - Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebote

Movie review: Haywire directed by Steven Sodenbergh

Directed by Steven Sodenbergh
Written by Lem Dobbs
Genre: action-packed thriller 

Cast: 
Mallory Kane: Gina Karano
Kenneth Jay, Mallory's boss: Evan McGregor
Aaron Henry: Channing Tatum
Olivier Coblenz: Michael Douglas
Paul (MI6 agent) Michael Fassbender


Synopsis:

A guy called Aaron walks into a roadside diner in upstate New York and smacks the living daylights out of a woman named Mallory Kane. Mallory is not one to be beaten around by anybody though - she turns the table and after a few spectacular kicks her opponent is left immobile on the floor and she is escaping with another guy who very chivalrously decided to intervene on her behalf. Now he is in for a treat - Mallory is telling him her story so far, while screeching and careening through the snow. Then the local police catch up with them, then the FBI guys who prove not to be the FBI at all and Mallory is given plenty of opportunities to shoot, kill, maim and punch guys around her. What she does with gusto.

Cut to Washington, D.C., where Kenneth, Mallory's boss, is instructed by US senator Coblenz to eliminate the two-fisted Mallory. Flashback even further to Barcelona, where she and Aaron were once lovers on a hostage-rescue mission, before she discovered she was marked for assassination. In Dublin, while tracking down a Chinese nationalist, she poses as the wife of another secret agent, played by gym-pumped Michael Fassbender with typical out-of-the-shower, tight-towel nakedness. Instead of taking her to bed he tries to take her out. In retaliation, she chokes him with her well-muscled thighs (really next to her Michael looks... puny) and fires a bullet through his handsome head, so conveniently hidden under a pillow so the fans of Mr. Fassbender don't mind so much.

Trying to figure out why she’s been betrayed, she turns into a rogue agent and goes viral, throwing herself off rooftops, smashing through plate-glass windows, leaping from one building to another, bouncing off walls and kicking a lot of groins. It all ends up back in the present, at the elegant New Mexico home of her father, a former Marine turned best-selling author. Surprise! The anonymous killers and thugs show up immediately after Mallory and there’s more fighting to come as she demolishes a lot of beautiful furniture and marvelous architecture, heading for one last showdown with one final master criminal (Antonio Banderas, almost unrecognizable behind a bushy mouse-gray beard).The end.

My impressions:

My first unconnected thought was: what has Mr. Soderbergh paid or promised to so many current and former alpha males to persuade them to take part and make fools of themselves in this flop? They are wasting their time, but, boy, do we need them. My second more connected thought: you don't have to be very brainy to realize early that nobody connected with Haywire had any interest in coherent narrative filmmaking. The movie is nothing more than a locker-room joke. Nothing resembling plot, character development or a star-making career move of any kind is anywhere apparent. I would call it a string of well-orchestrated martial art scenes, nothing more.

Lem Dobbs has streamlined the script into a more or less basic revenge tale—with elements of an international spy thriller—that’s written within Carano’s range and hits action beats with satisfying regularity. It’s his and Soderbergh’s idea of lizard-brain entertainment, and its pleasures are remarkably distilled. In truth, Haywire is simply a delivery system for ass-kickings, calibrated to the specific talents of Gina Carano, a former mixed-martial-arts star and American Gladiator whose fists (and feet) of fury can rattle skulls and cave in chests. I admit it was a pleasure to watch a woman who actually knows how to throw a punch instead of crappy fighters like Jolie - Carano is hot and able to kick most guys asses - but without any logic and character development you get bored with her character after a while. Could Carano carry a movie that required more nuanced acting than this one does? Hard to say. Perhaps with a better script and another director...

Final verdict:

The whole point of this time-wasting movie seems to prove that women can punch, kick, slash, burn, maim and kill just like men—and make bad movies that are just as stupid. Mr. Soderbergh I liked Erin Brockovitch, so much but now I think it was a fluke, never to be repeated. Please prove me wrong!

Review: Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts 01) by Stacia Kane

Book info:
Form: pdf
Genre: urban fantasy
Target audience: adults

Synopsis: 

“And the living prayed to their gods and begged for rescue from the armies of the dead, and there was no answer. For there are no gods.”

—The Book of Truth, Origins, Article 12

Welcome to a kind of dystopic America with no God or gods but one Church of Real Truth – the only organization that can protect you against ghosts of the deceased which can appear out of nowhere and kill you. Cesaria Putnam also known as Chess is one of the Churchwitches who specializes in debunking – sending unruly ghosts to where they belong, using psychopomps. It is a dangerous job which doesn’t pay well but when you are an orphan coming from a seedy part of Triumph City such a position might be your only hope to survive and to forget; that and drugs of course.

Chess is into drugs big time – she keeps swallowing or sniffing all those Cepts, Nips and Pandas which help her to cope with the ugliness of her everyday life. Small wonder soon enough she becomes dependent on the local drug lord, Bump. Like any thug, Bump has his own plans concerning Chess - he wants to use her supernatural talents in order to open his own private airport which has been supposedly haunted. If Chess manages to tether the unruly ghosts, allegedly appearing at that place, and send them where they belong her debt will be paid in full and she will have a free access to Bump’s drugs. It seems to be a proposition you cannot refuse if you want to do business with Bump any longer.

Chess accompanied by Bump’s scary chief enforcer, Terrible, goes meekly to the said deserted airport only to discover that something more sinister than a ghost might be lurking there – she senses the traces of forbidden, black magic. Will she be strong enough to face it? Will it interfere with her day job? What about her forced deal with another drug lord, a dangerously handsome man called Alex, who doesn’t want Bump to have a private airport? Who can she trust and why Terrible, known for his ruthlessness, is being so kind all of a sudden?

What I liked:

I liked Chess – mainly because she thought and acted like a real, three-dimensional person not like a Disney princess. Yes, she made mistakes, yes, she was addicted to those wretched pills, yes, she lied and cheated and committed so many crimes, mainly against herself but you could understand her and see her problems. Of course you might argue that it was done so many times - a girl with difficult past trying to forget - but I still felt Chess was different, more insecure and edgy. What’s more, despite her blues she was sarcastic most of the time, never whining about her rather grim childhood and her demanding job (unless suffering from withdrawal of course ;p).. For example while dealing with a rich snob in a suburban neighbourhood she thinks to herself:

“If Mrs. Morton would stop verbally jacking off her husband and son, this would all be done so much more quickly but then Chess figured it was just about the only sex the woman got. ”

I really liked Terrible for roughly the same reasons plus a less than pretty face and his vile reputation. Surprisingly his actions and personality, which is being revealed so very slowly and with utmost care by the author, make him a very hot male specimen. That’s rare and it was beautifully done, I only hope it will continue. Of course he and Chess are at the beginning of a very bumpy road to true love, trust, commitment and comprehension but I hope they will reach their destination more or less unscathed.

Now the world building – it was original and clever. One and the only Church which exists and supplants others just because it can deal with the ghost problem is something that makes you think ‘danger’ even if you didn’t know anything else. The quotes from official ‘holly texts’, some funny, some slightly paranoiac, added to the feeling of one big dystopian accident waiting to happen. For example this:

“There is much humanity cannot comprehend. The Church comprehends for you.”

Creepy thought control? Welcome to the brave new world…What’s more the Church is one of the main employers as it hires people to fill a variety of positions. There are Elders, what we nowadays would call spiritual leaders, there are Goodys, some kind of helpers for more menial tasks like secretarial or librarian work, and there are Debunkers who need to be gifted with magical skills. Will anybody dare to fight such an organization? I truly hope so.

What I didn’t like:

The baddies could have been a little bit more complex, not just so relentlessly evil.I do hope the Church will be forced to face a bit of fair competition.

The street slang used by Bump and other Downsiders sometimes grated on my nerves. After a while all those ‘yay’, ‘aye’ ‘dig’ ‘wanna’, ‘watcha’ used indiscriminately in any sentence slowed down my reading and I didn’t want to slow down. Of course you might argue that it was a great language for the world of crime and vice and I agree – it was as dark and nasty as everything in the Downside. Still there were moments when I felt there was too much of it.

Final verdict:

If you are into Urban Fantasy with truly original world building and a dynamic plot  it is one of those books you should read. Add to that gritty, real-life, flawed characters and you get a series which might be addictive.I was very pleasantly surprised how much I liked it and now I want more.

January - Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

January, not December was a month of gift giving and, apparently, Jean de Berry enjoyed giving and receiving; Paul de Limbourg and his brothers used to participate in the festivities, presenting the prince with an object worthy of their artistry and also looking for inspirations.

The Duke sits at his table in a striking blue robe decorated with gold fleurs de lys - indicating his support for the French monarchy. You can see some of the wealthy friends of the Duke de Berry bringing new year's gifts to their lord. Behind him the blaze of a large fire in the monumental fireplace is guarded by a wickerwork screen. Above the fireplace rises a red silk canopy bearing the Duke's heraldic motifs: golden fleurs-de-lys, strewn on a blue ground. Wounded swans and bears symbolize the Duke's love for a lady called Ursine. Tapestries hanging behind the canopy depict knights emerging from a fortified castle to confront the enemy; the few decipherable words of the poetry inscribed at the top of the tapestries seem to indicate a representation of the Trojan War as imagined in medieval France -  the knights fight dressed in medieval armour. It might also be a reference to the war which was currently being fought against King Henry V of England who defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

The table is covered with a damask cloth and laid with platters, plates, and a beautiful gold saltcellar in the shape of a ship, which is referred to in the inventories as the "salière du pavillon. " Behind him and to the right are two young men wearing black head gear who may be the Limbourg brothers who painted these scenes under the patronage of the Duke de Berry. One of them casually leans on the back of the Duke's chair. The atmosphere seems to be rather informal and pleasant, far from rigid restrictions of the royal courts. It conveys a feeling that Duke's courtiers and subjects were also his friends.

A prelate with sparse white hair and a purple coat sits on the Duke's right, thanking him for this honor. He is probably a close friend, Martin Gouge, Bishop of Chartres, who shared the Duke's love of beautiful books. Behind him several figures are seen entering and stretching their hands toward the fire; the chamberlain encourages them, saying "Approche approche!" "Come in, come in ! "The Duke's little dogs wander freely among the dishes and are generously fed. A cup-bearer, a pantler, and a carver, busy waiting on table in front of the officers of the ducal court, complete this lively tableau which recreates a familiar scene from the life at the aristocratic court of Jean de Berry.