Thor

I went to see Thor today with my ten-year-old son.  I'm not a fan of 3D, I believe the celluloid should be 2D and I still don't want it any other way.  I know that they aren't recorded onto celluloid any more, but I really don't care - 2D only for me.  The only showing at my local cinema for 2D was as 12:00 noon, one showing per day.  3D, about 8 showings per day.  And they charge you £2 more to see it in 3D, when it costs no more to show it in that format.

Anyway, enough about my rant against 3D movies.

All in all, I enjoyed this immensely.  Anthony Hopkins as Odin was brilliant, as always and really shows up the other actors as his talent is stratospheric in comparison to anyone else around him.  Chris Hemsworth as Thor was very good as was Natalie Portman as Jane Foster.  Most of the other actors was fine and fulfilled their roles adequately.

I'm not totally sure of the role Loki (Tom Hiddleston) was meant to play - why do the American movie makers always seem to cast English people as the villans - as he didn't really come across as sufficiently mischievous for my tastes and his evil only really showed right at the end - I think a more subtle unraveling of his nature would have served better.   However, that said, it didn't really detract too much.

The only remaining question is how will Thor get back to Earth now that the rainbow bridge has been destroyed.....

Hmmm, yes, I liked this very much and it looks like Kenneth Branagh did a good job on it.  Can't wait for Captain America now and then The Avengers next year.....not forgetting the X-Men First Class in June too.

8/10

Uncanny X-Men #654.1

This is one of the special "Point One", jumping on titles and is an introduction to the Uncanny X-Men for new readers.

The story is told from a slightly different aspect as Kate Kildare (the X-Men's Public Relations Specialist) is bringing a freelance photographer to Utopia to take some portraits of the X-Men. 

The story is a bit weak, but the nub of it is that some Hydra agents impersonating A.I.M. operatives have blackmailed businesses into believing that they will detonate a device to cause an earthquake down the Western seaboard if they do not pay.  The X-Men investigate and aprehend these villans and Magneto is given a fantastic opportunity to save they day by minimising the earthquakes effects using his unique abilities, saving the day and getting some unbeatable good PR to boot.

All in all a satisfactory issue with some good bits and some poor bits, but it is a "Point One" issue, so we'll see where it goes from here.

3/5

Fox Rising by Ashley J.Barnard

Generally a pleasing read. Like "Shadow Fox", it has an easily read style and most of the content is good. I would say, this seems a little slower in pace and there is some inaccurate "historical" information, but it's still a very enjoyable read.

It's certainly worth pursuing if you've read "Shadow Fox".

Currently only available as an e-book.

Aviva Premiership - Saracens 35 - 15 Gloucester

Wow, what an excellent game of Rugby.

I took the whole family to a day out at the Saracens tie versus Gloucester. Saracens currently in second place in the league and Gloucester in third, certainly made this a tie to get the juices flowing, and we weren't disappointed. I suspect the Gloucester fans were, however. We were treated to a fairly one sided affair where Saracens seemed to control most of the possession and Gloucester scored two break-away tries in what was ultimately an unexpectedly one-sided affair.

Gloucester were disappointing in their lack of pace, imagination and work ethic considering their recent successes in the league and does not bode well for their most likely semi-final against Saracens here on May 15th.....

Amazon Kindle

Last week I bought myself a Kindle. (3rd edition I think). I read Shadow Fox by Ashley J.Barnard (note - on the amazon.co.uk site, her name is listed a "Ashley Barnard" for this book) on Kindle for iPhone and I was surprised how well it worked - I'd always thought the small screen would negatively affect the experience, but it didn't seem to.

Anyway, when Fox Rising (listed on amazon.co.uk as Ashley J.Barnard) came out, I decided to throw myself fully into the experience and buy a Kindle and read it on that.

Well, I must say that generally, I am impressed. Being an iPhone user, it's a little frustrating that you can "swipe" the screen to turn pages, but this is a minor issue that I soon adjusted to. The only other thing I'm not a great fan of is the fact that there are no numbers on the keypad. To get numbers, you have to use the symbol menu. Again, a minor thing, but a little annoying.

That said, I'm enjoying using it. It can sync your position in a book back to the Kindle.com server so that when you switch devices it updates your other device with your current position (you can choose not to accept the new position and carry on where you were), but they work well together. The kindle (and kindle apps) record your position using an arbitrary numbering system (which may be paragraph numbering, but I'm not yet certain), so it doesn't matter about the screen size you're reading on as it syncs the location and not page number.

Also, when you buy the kindle, Amazon give you an email address (usually yourname@kindle.com) which is editable, so you can email PDF's etc to the device. The zooming functions for A4 PDF's isn't brilliant, but it's acceptible you'd be better off re-PDFing the document in a smaller page format for the best effect.

My only concern is the number of books that are being published on the Kindle (or lack of). Many mainstream books are still not available on the Kindle - is this because of the contractual hold that the publishers have over the authors ? I noticed that some books actually cost more (on Amazon) for the kindle than for the printed book. I appreciate that the authors get more return on ebooks, but do they need to maintain the same (or higher) pricing for them. At least the smaller, lesser known authors are getting an opportunity to get something out there at a minimal cost.

Batman: The Dark Knight #2

Golden Dawn, Part Two

On the trail of Dawn Golden, Batman has been caught searching the offices of the Iceberg Lounge by the Penguin. In a fit of rage, Batman breaks both of Penguin's legs and one of his arms before Killer Croc arrives and incapacitates him, knocking him unconscious. Meanwhile Commissioner Gordon discovers that Mayor Hady has put Forbes (the "New Guy") in charge of the Dawn Golden Case.

Outside the Iceberg Lounge a punk kid cracks the security on the Batmobile and takes it for a joy-ride. Manny tells his friends that he's planning to leave, before what happened to King, happens to him. In Jason Blood's apartment, he transforms into Etrigan !

Batman wakes in a large domed building strapped to explosives. Croc is there and Penguin tells him via video-link that Croc will kill him and that the explosives are linked to his heart rate.

The final page shows Manny being hunted down by.....

I liked this (bit far fetched stealing the Batmobile), as the story progressed and the art is lovely, very atmospheric.

Batman #708

Judgment on Gotham Part One, One Good Man

Dick Grayson (the Gotham Batman) is still troubled by a gunshot wound through his chest and out is back. The bruising around the wound is changing (into a bat-like shape). This causes memories of his treatment by Azrael and his Sword of Sin. Shortly afterwards, he goes to Devils Square where an Azrael-like figure "Crusader" is reigning fire upon the "sinners". He arrives with Cat Woman (Selina Kyle) and Red Robin (Tim Drake) and they all assault this figure. Batman and Red Robin set about Crusader while Catwoman helps save the life of a baby of a prostitute in a burning building. Just as Crusader is about to seriously harm Batman, Azrael appears and orders Crusader to stop.

Crusader and Azrael claim that the three "heroes" were summoned to face Judgement and gives them (and Gotham) 24 hours to find "one good man" or the whole city will burn. The three object, instead choosing to take them down at which Crusader activates some kind of flash grenade and he and Azrael disappear. Catwoman and Robin think that Batman should call in "the big guns", but Dick says they have 24 hours......

Meanwhile, Ra's Al Ghul has Hans Gerlicht, a Scientist of the Order of Purity bombarding a super, called "Fireball" with several terawatts of power priming him as a living bomb.

So, what is Ghul planning for Gotham and how are Azrael and Crusader involved. I guess we'll find out next issue.

As usual with Batman, I'm not quite sure where this one is going, but it will probably have some nice twists in it. Not a classic story by usual standards, but we'll see how it shapes up.

Shadow Fox by Ashley J.Barnard

Jared Bruin doesn’t know who he is. He remembers nothing of his early childhood before the age of seven when he was abandoned in a park in St. Louis, left in an unfamiliar world that terrified him. He knows only that he is driven to learn everything he can about swordplay and sixteenth-century combat.

Almost twenty years later, as he is battling a heroin addiction, suicidal tendencies and a violent affliction he doesn't understand, he is hired to teach swordplay to an enigmatic woman with secrets of her own, who somehow provides a link to his past.

Then a missing journal arrives that provides many answers to Jared’s past, and in it another world is revealed, one of a Goddess, prophecies, elves, a devastating love triangle, and a war in desperate need of a hero.

From the book description.

Shadow Fox is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It is written in an easily read style and Barnard keeps the pace pounding along throughout most of the book. Jared's character is especially well developed - a troubled, tortured, self-destructive soul, displaced from the world around him, trying to find any way to get through life, never really fitting in with anyone or anything, searching for who (or what) he is. His deeply flawed character is really well developed and thoroughly believable (especially when you find out who/what he is, later in the book).

The plot develops slowly at first, slowly gaining pace through the chapters until it all comes to a head at the end, and finally we understand what everything means and how it all hangs together.

I read this on "kindle for the iPhone" (and it's my first ebook) and found that I was sneaking out my phone and reading a few pages every spare moment that came about. I was very disappointed when I got to the end as I wanted more and it ends so abruptly - ready for book 2 of the trilogy.

A really good first novel and I am greatly looking forward to the next installment. Well done Ashley.

You can buy it from;

amazon.co.uk and amazon.com

The authors webstite can be found at http://www.ashleyjbarnard.com/

Amazing Spiderman #657

Torch Song

So, Johnny Storm of the FF is dead. Spidey goes to see Reed, Sue and Ben and the reminisce in a fairly lame, typically comic-book flashback (reprint) kind of style. At the end Reed plays the end of Johnny's holo-message/will only to be invited (by Johnny) to take his place on the team.

All-in-all I thought this was a pretty lame issue and did not deal with the death of a very close friend particularly well.

I can't believe that Marvel would charge $3.99 for this drivel. Save your money and give it a miss.

The Fallen Herald by Simon P.Edwards

Thorn and Alazla are promising students, and have little more on their minds than enjoying life, that is until Thorn witnesses the murder of an Avatar, herald to one of the nine gods.

Unknown to Thorn, the seed of the fallen herald takes root in him. Hidden forces seeking to overthrow the pantheon of gods capture Thorn, as Alazla can only watch, utterly helpless.
Thorn is carried to the secret realm of the immortals, the capricious children of the gods, where they seek to twist Thorn and use him to free them from their imprisonment.
Distraught and enraged at losing his life-long friend, Alazla sets out to find Thorn and confront the immense forces that hold him, with just the strength of his own frail mortality.  
From the book description.

This book is an excellent read and I would recommend it. I'm not going to spoil the plot - let's just say, it's a classic "epic fantasy", but the nice "twist" is that it does some of it in largely new and unexpected ways. The world is present, but is primarily in the background, as it is the characters and their motivations that take precedence and this has been done pleasingly well. The characterisations are strong and well rounded, and it is these characters that drive the story line along. The writing style is direct and conservative, and you always feel that the story is moving along at pace - this does not detract however from the story in any way - it is complete and consistent throughout. Something that I really liked was the original mechanics of magic in the story, but you'll have to read it to find out more....

You can buy it from;

amazon.co.uk and amazon.com

It is not currently available in e-book format.


The authors webstite can be found here

www.simonpedwards.co.uk or at www.thefallenherald.com