TV REVIEW: True Blood "Who Are You, Really?"

True Blood Season 6 Episode 1

Who Are You, Really?

So way back in 2012 I just tapped out with the whole True Blood thing, the show had started strong and even encouraged me to try the Southern Vampire Mysteries. Unfortunately crazy ghost witches made me question my viewing habits and a season of The Authority bored me to tears and had me reconsider the show.

Anyway with True Blood coming to an end this Summer I thought it was worth finishing what I started. So let’s do this thing, previously on True Blood Sookie and the gang escape the Authority compound, Bill goes Super Vampire and Luna died.

Sookie and the gang made it out and proceeded to bitch at each other endlessly because escaping with your life or undeath shouldn’t cause you to sigh with relief or be grateful at all. Anyway ignore that because the Governor of the great state of Louisiana holds a press conference over all the bloodshed and basically declare war on Vampires, seizing their property and advising Americans to go buy some guns (made me chuckle too).

All through this Jason is whooping it up like he’s at an all state college football game despite the majority of the vehicle’s occupants being vampire because Jason is Jason and he still hates Jessica from all those shenanigans last season.

The gang split up as the bitching continues Jason runs off, Sookie stakes Jessica who is being summoned to Bill and Eric and sis who I can’t even bring myself to IMDB her name seemingly go off on their own.

Meanwhile in werewolf land, actually you know what fuck the werewolves this side plot is appalling boring and cannot be saved with an amazing pair of breasts and a really, REALLY creepy suggested threesome.

One of the few things that moved me was Sam and Luna’s kid at the bar running into Lafayette I don’t know why but it touched me and that little kid has got some acting skills. We also saw the Sheriff and his rapidly growing bunch of half fae kids (not going to call them half fairy just no).

So far after watching this episode it seems just as crazy as before now with a super vampire that wouldn’t look out of place on an anime series but no point judging after only one episode so I’m signing on for at least another one.

BOOK REVIEW: Born At Midnight by CC Hunter

Born at Midnight is the first in the Shadow Falls written by CC Hunter. It was published on 29^th March 2011 by St Martin’s Griffin, its ISBN is 0312624670. 

PLOT

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

WHY I BOUGHT IT

It has been awhile since I have gotten my teeth into a really good YA series from the start, I have several ongoing series that I love (yay for more Bloodlines next month) but have been looking around for other series to add to the reading pile. Unravelling was a hot mess, Mythos Academy was uninspiring and after that I moved onto other genres in the pile, Born at Midnight is me taking a chance on a plot outline that sounds intriguing with the knowledge that there are already several more books if I want more.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Kylie Galen has done it, she stands at the top of the pedestal alone, she is my number one most unlikable main character far surpassing my intense dislike for one Rose Hathaway of the Vampire Academy series. She is just one of the most selfish and vile characters I have ever had the misfortune of following in a book. You know the most unfortunate thing about is that Kylie is only one of several things that make Born at Midnight extremely hard to read.

TOO MANY PLOTS

Teen pregnancy, unknown birth right, love triangles, divorce and family secrets and there are even more plotlines to be found in this first book. The result is that far too much is going on and the book suffers from having to jump between all these plots.

CHARACTERISATION

There is very little in the way of characterisation everyone just gets the go to adjectives, sexy, angry, scary and the like. The boys are attractive with broad shoulders and flat stomachs or they are creepy. Kylie’s cabin mates get fleshed out a little more but that seemed to be more as a result of the plot having to move forward than anything else. The love interests were nothing more than pretty cardboard by the end of the book which may or may not be worse than other multi-book stories but they didn’t feel very real or interesting.

This goes doubly for Kylie she starts the book proper denying that she is supernatural, and this manages to go on for 90% of the book though thankfully she is less of a cow about it as we move through the story and stops treating them like freaks even as they go well out of their way to be nice to her.

Born at Midnight is an amazing premise that falls badly in the execution, to put it simply there is much too much going on. I cannot recommend this book to fans of paranormal YA it feels like an unfinished exercise in writing. After I completed this book and was preparing this review I read that the author was switching over from romance so perhaps this could be put down to initial teething problems and we might see an improvement to later instalments. Still even allowing for that I think there are many YA books out there that are worthy of your potential time.

World of Warcraft Post: The Quest to 560 AKA Gimme Dem Heirlooms

So those who follow my posts know that I have a World of Warcraft itch that must be scratched with more than a few level 90s over two servers and what probably seems like a strange dislike of organised raiding. I won’t go into those reasons now but with handy addons like Oqueue I THOUGHT that raiding wouldn’t be a problem, how wrong was I.

My main reason for having to try Flex was to try and get myself an Heirloom weapon drop from Garrosh. For those that don’t know the heirloom only drops in Flex or greater, no drops for us plebs running around in LFR. Now when I first decided to step up I thought that this wouldn’t be too bad as at the time I was sitting on an Elemental Shaman who was my main and was sitting on 530 ilvl or so, this was months ago say a little after the heirlooms were in game.

What I found to my cost when trying to get into game though was the same gear score nonsense that went wild during Wrath of the Lich King all that time ago. In order for me as a DPS to get into a Trade or oqeueue Flex Raid I had to up my game so to speak way up to the tune of 550 ilvl or more and oh yeah don’t bother coming without the Achievement for killing Garrosh too. So we went back to that Catch 22, I/O error or however you want to describe people pretty much looking for a free ride to their phat lewtz.

To get to 550 ilvl you pretty much have to be running normal and mostly being unlucky, where is the hope for aspiring people outside of Raiding Guilds, and before you say crafted armour I already had all the crafted armour possible on that character.

The more I play World of Warcraft the more it seems that the development team want everyone to be in raiding guilds, though they often say things like players prefer with their friends, well my friends left in droves before the run up to Cataclysm with very few coming back. My server died a death and I had to move to a new one, which Blizzard probably would have loved if I paid for 5x character transfers unfortunately for them I am not a rich man.

I really am starting to get the feeling especially with the upcoming changes mentioned in Warlords of Draenor that people like me are surplus to requirements in the Blizzard scheme of things, which is a shame when it seems that battle pet collectors come above you in the scheme of things. LFR with no tier rewards and no trinkets so all those players  that helped me and others get through those Tuesday Evening LFR runs (EU here so day before reset) will be gone to the more fertile lands of Flex or whatever the hell it will be called in WoD.

Here I am bitching about things but what am I doing, yeah I’m here grinding my Priest and Paladin in their healing specs through Flex wings because I am a masochist it seems. In reality though it is because there aren’t a lot of other games out there that I could go to if I decided to quit WoW. I tried The Old Republic but after it went Free-To-Play they messed with it so much as to make it unplayable without ponying up some cash. The story mode was pretty fun though I will say that and the choices that you could make did have me cackling like a Sith Lord at least have the time but you need more than that.

So that is enough from me I need to go grind out Timeless Isle stuff so I can upgrade my Warforged and crafted armour in an effort to eek out a few more ilvl points.

GAMING POST: Play Sega Controller on PS3

So last time I was telling you that my controller finally arrive what followed was a torturous process of finding out how the buttons mapped out for SSFIV Arcade Edition. I made a little chart below so you don’t have to.

NOTE: The Play Sega Controller has no button for Start or PS so you will always need to have a proper controller connected to your PS3.

PS3 Controller buttons                                                  Play Sega Buttons

SQUARE                                                                               A

TRIANGLE                                                                            X

CROSS                                                                                   B

CIRCLE                                                                                  C

L1                                                                                            Y

L2                                                                                            L

R1                                                                                           Z

R2                                                                                           R

I fully intend to pick up a few more fighting games to see how this controller works. I like how the controller feels it certainly handles well though I am severely out of practice and it shows. Hope this helps people out there who want a nice cheap controller that works well.

FILM REVIEW: Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy is a 2014 film based on the Number One Best Selling YA series by Richelle Mead. It stars Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Danila Kozlovsky, Vampire Academy was released in the US on 7^th February 2014.

PLOT

Rose Hathaway is a dhampir, half-vampire and half-human, who is training to be a guardian at St Vladimir's Academy along with many others like her. There are good and bad vampires in their world: Moroi, who co-exist peacefully among the humans and only take blood from donors, and also possess the ability to control one of the four elements - water, earth, fire or air; and Strigoi, blood-sucking, evil vampires who drink to kill.

Rose and other dhampir guardians are trained to protect Moroi and kill Strigoi throughout their education. Along with her best friend, Princess Vasilissa Dragomir, a Moroi and the last of her line, with whom she has a nigh unbreakable bond, Rose must run away from St Vladimir's, in order to protect Lissa from those who wish to harm the princess and use her for their own means.

[taken from IMDB.com]

WHY I WATCHED

I had heard about Vampire Academy for quite some time before I decided to take the plunge mostly because of the tone of the reviews, memes and what have you heavily hinted at a story that was all about the romance and not a lot else. Still further research revealed that the series was more than just a love triangle and I eventually decided to try it and was impressed though I thoroughly dislike Rose as a character but that is another story.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Reviewer’s Note: I am a fan of the Vampire Academy series and its follow up Bloodlines so that will colour my review of the film. I would recommend reading the books before checking out the film if they are on your TBR list. For any non YA fans or anyone else who won’t be reading the books, this film can stand on its own as it is a reasonably faithful adaption of the first book in a series.

I was happy at first when I heard about the film adaption for Vampire Academy it has a great, loyal and certainly passionate fan base and it has that classic love triangle which is a toss-up for whether or not it will work in a film franchise. Then I started hearing that “Mean Girls with fangs” tag and I shuddered. VA the books are not particularly comedic so I did wonder what was happening in terms of direction.

Thankfully after watching I can say that the comedy aspect of VA is not overdone or forced it just stays there in the background bringing a smile or a chuckle and definitely did not distract me from the joy of seeing characters who I have followed for years suddenly coming to life onscreen.

VA is a film about vampires with supernatural powers so I have to look at how that was handled. It is not a spoiler to say that Lissa and Rose are psychically linked and the way they handle it in the movie is interesting and very well thought out.

A look at the books' original artwork before they replace it

The only low point in this surprise hit was the fight choreography, in a film about bodyguard who has to fight in hand to hand combat against deadly vampires you would think that they would have spent more time on the choreography. It looks loose and badly edited, it doesn’t compare to say what you might see in a show like Person of Interest which does violence realistically without wirework or slow motion.

How close is the film to the book? The answer to that is “VERY” things are compressed but all the important scenes that stuck in my memory seemingly make it through to the film from the book. I’m sitting here trying to think if any characters are left out and I think the answer to that is no as the second book introducing a lot of the characters that fans of the series might have forgotten didn’t appear in the first book.

The real test for me of any book to film adaption is “Would you recommend it to a fan of the book?” for Vampire Academy the answer to this question is a resounding yes. For those of you not familiar with the book I would urge you to consider a read before viewing but the film stands alone and is absolutely understandable in the way that other popular film adaptions are not if you are unfamiliar with the source material.

The Time To Crush My Enemies Is Now

If you have been following my tweets and blog posts you might have noticed that I have been trying to play my PS3 more. To that end I recently picked up Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. I watched it a few times on YouTube and figured it was worth checking out, though the last time I played Street Fighter seriously was Alpha.

The game is pretty cool though it does take a bit of getting used to with all the juggles and crossovers and a dozen other terms that I am only now starting to grasp. The main issue with playing is not the game itself it is those PS3 controllers they are really not conducive to this type of fighting game.

That weird missing inside piece of the PS3 makes all the difference and makes doing motion moves, like a fireball (which is Down to Down/Forward to Forward and press a button) a bit of a challenge. It can be done but not reliably as with other simple controllers I have used (not arcade sticks).

So after some research I found a copy of one of the best fighting controllers EVER for sale and I thought I would try it. Granted it is only a knockoff so the quality is in doubt but if it is only half as reliable then it should be ok as it will only be used for one game. Here are the pictures of the original and the knockoff.

The controller is of reasonable quality and the price is pretty cheap at around £9. My next problem is trying to map out the buttons to see how they work on Street Fighter which I will probably write down on my next blog because my goodness I would have liked to find it online. If you're looking for the controller a quick amazon or ebay search for "Saturn USB PC controller".

Book Review: ILLUSION by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Illusion by Sherrilyn Kenyon is a 2014 YA novel which forms part of the Dark Hunter Universe of books. It is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Nick series and was released on 1 April 2014.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE BOOK.

PLOT

Nick Gautier is tired of his destiny. He doesn't want to be the son of a demon who's fated to end the world. Nor does he want to see another demon or other preternatural creature who wants to kill or enslave him. He just wants to be normal and have normal problems like everyone else. 

But normality isn't all it's cracked up to be. When he gets sucked into an alternate reality where his mother has married his mentor and his Atlantean god best friend has become a human geek, he begins to understand that no life is free of pain, and that every person has a specific place in the universe... Even the son of a hated demon. 

Most of all, he sees that his powers aren't the curse he thought they were, and that the world needs a champion, especially one its enemies can't imagine rising up to defend the ones he should destroy. 

Old enemies and new friends square off for a major battle that will either restore Nick to his real world, or end him forever.

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I loved the Chronicles of Nick from the first crazy book. It seems so unlike most YA out there nowadays probably primarily down to the male protagonist which is a serious rarity in recent YA. I have not read any of the other Shadow Hunter books as they are not really my preferred genre but the lore is rich and interesting.

WHAT I THOUGHT

The last book came with a lead in (preview) of Illusion and from what I read there I had graves concerns about this book. I like Nick with his powers after all it is a complement to that sarcasm which can sometimes be more than a little overwhelming. So this idea of a book set in an alternate reality with no powers and Nick scrambling to understand what happened. I was very worried that all of it would be spent with Nick cooling his heels and dealing with silly analogues.

I won’t say this is my favourite instalment of Chronicles of Nick but it was not as bad as the preview in the last book made it seem. The story is interesting though for me the first third dragged a bit but then things started to pick up nicely.

Important things happen to Nick in this book like his acceptance of his role as the Malachai which shows his ongoing growth, he has always been heroic and self-sacrificing but this acceptance of his role as the potential destroyer/saviour of the world is interesting as it seems to indicate that the only thing that will succeed in pushing him over the edge would be the death of his mother.

I still don’t like Nekoda to me at least she always comes across as a very bad match for Nick though I will state for the record that I’m not sure who he might belong with. We learn a lot more about her and the various connections to the other cast of characters in the Chronicles of Nick universe so if you’re a fan of her you should definitely enjoy all those new details. Caleb gets an almost cameo at the end of the book so if you’re a fan of his prepare to be a little disappointed by that hopefully the next book should do something to redress the balance.

I am definitely looking forward to the next instalment of Chronicles of Nick and I would definitely recommend this rather unique series to anyone who likes their lore and snappy dialogue.