Reviews for July 2023
Spoilers!
Books
Invasive
Losely a sequel to Zeroes (same universe, different lead character), Invasive is a thriller about saving the world from genetically modified killer ants. It's a very competent beach read kind of book, keeps the pace moving along briskly and gets the job done. His Miriam Black series is much better (and darker) and I am on the cusp of dipping into Wayward, the sequel to the rather good Wanderers.
Killing Moon
I thought I was done with Harry Hole at the end of Book 12, but he's surprisingly back and with an ending that strongly hints at more. This time Harry is forced to solve a crime outside the Norwegian police by some hand waving circumstances in Los Angeles. The main plot is another very nasty killer with many red herrings along the way. This series is my favorite Scandinavian Noir and it's a very solid installment but start at the beginning if you're new to it. There is a lot of history with many of these characters.
The Starless Crown
I really struggled to finish this book, to the point it backed up my reading and had me turning to Netflix for several months. It's a pity because the concept is great, a fantasy quest in a distinctly Sci Fi milieu, and many of the scenes are phenomenal. Maybe it will make a great movie or TV series one day. But the actual mechanics of the prose are leaden and tropey. Not a series that I'm planning to continue.
Movies
Blackberry
I watched Blackberry expecting to find out something interesting about the history of the famous business accessory, or maybe the phone version of the outstanding Halt and Catch Fire. Nope. Apparently they built it with swearing and then once people fell in love with the iPhone the company died. Nothing to add here.
Discontinued
Funny movie about our particular version of reality getting shut down. I like that the reason for the simulation is inconsequential, see this.
Fast X
This is one of those irritating moves that doesn't really end and just sets up the next chapter. It's also an exercise in too much CGI, some of it unforgivably bad. Beyond that I don't remember much, and I don't know much about cars so the fact he's in a Spaghetti Chiron Ghia means nothing to me. Some of the earlier installments were OK. I've watched between 3 and 12 of them.
To Catch a Killer
To Catch a Killer is a competent, adult police thriller set in Baltimore. It doesn't have any particular angle or seeming reason to exist in today's cinematic landscape. It's just a well made gift that arrived for no reason. Lucky rent.
Music
Don't Delete the Kisses
Low key but can't stop going back to this by Wolf Alice.
TV
The Days
The Days tells the story of the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. A nuclear catastrophe is always pretty gripping and I was pretty gripped. They clearly didn't have the budget to compete with HBO's Chernobyl though, and seem to have gone for a daytime Emmy instead. The special effects were not that great, and some of the acting was more horrific than the meltdown. There is one nuclear advisor who emotes surprise like a Tasered fish and you wonder if AI actors might be a blessing in some cases.
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