House of Cards (Season 3)

The chronicles of Frank Underwood continues and it’s Clare Underwood that really shines in this season.    Their relationship is the heart and soul of this show and whether they’re fighting or working together to manipulate and stay in power its addictive entertainment.   I’m not sure how long the writers can sustain the drama, especially with nowhere else for Frank to go but down, but the complexities of staying in power is very exciting.  Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are electric together as always.  Michael Kelly shines with Doug going to places that are truly riveting.  Grade: A-

Emperor Mollusk Versus The Sinister Brain by A. Lee Martinez

I haven’t read a book this funny and kooky in a long time.  What a wacky adventure.  I can’t recommend it enough.  The main character is basically the smartest super villain of all time that just so happens to be a mollusk in a exoskeleton suit and he’s suddenly challenged by a new villain that believes it's even more smart-- a Brain.   A character as egotistical as Mollusk would usually drive me crazy but Martinez finds a way to make him enduring as well as hilarious.  Comedy is hard to do and in the genre of science fiction, in my opinion, even more challenging.  Martinez succeeds in every way.   Grade: A

The Walking Dead (Season 5)

How do you follow up one of the better seasons of this Zombie epic?  Oh, I don’t know, but part of me wishes they had done better than this.  It’s not a great season.  The first half ends with a death that rocked me and not in a good way.  I don’t want to spoil the character they kill off but it felt like such a waste and I have to admit I almost considered not watching the show.  But I believe that good characters do have to die sometimes (even if in a completely dumb way) and kept on.  The second half is a major improvement but there’s still a sense that they’re going back to the well a little bit.  I have hope for the next season; especially with a hinted at an upcoming villain, but you never know with this show.   It’s high anxiety storytelling because I can’t trust the writers completely.  Obviously they have to kill a bunch of characters off, that’s the nature of this animal, but sometimes they do it well and other times they don’t.    It’s just not a consistently well-crafted program.   The one thing that keeps me coming back is certain characters.   The day they die is the day I stop watching.   It’s as simple as that.  Grade: B

New Spring by Robert Jordan

Robert Jordan took a break in writing the ending of the Wheel of Time to write this prequel about how Moiraine Damodred and Siuan Sanche began their clandestine search to find the Dragon Reborn and how Lan Mandragoran became Moiraine’s Warder.   I wonder if Mr. Jordan would have taken the time to write this book if he would have known he’d get sick two years after publishing it and would die a year after that.   I’m not saying it’s a bad book, in fact I loved it.  But it did keep him from moving forward completing his epic story and as a result someone else has had to do that.   While I loved it, I will say it doesn’t really add to the overall story of the Wheel of Time.  It’s mostly stuff we already know.  That’s another reason why I almost wish he had not started it.  But it is a good read and I love the characters so much I can’t condemn it.  If you like the Wheel of Time you should add it to your reading list.  If you’ve never read a book from this series, don’t start here.  Grade: B+

Hail, Caesar! (2016)

The Coen brothers take on the 1950s Hollywood and it’s a delightful experience.   I wouldn’t say this is their best work but it’s certainly a good film that holds true to their film making style.   George Clooney plays one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Baird Whitlock,who is kidnapped by a secret society of Reds.   Who’s job is it to “fix” this situation but Eddie Mannix (played by Josh Brolin) who sets out to find Whitlock as well as address other problems.  The character that steals the show though is Hobie Doyle (played wonderfully by Alden Ehrenreich).  Hobie is a country bumpkin cowyboy actor that the studio decides to try and make the next big star.   Watching Hobie take direction from Ralph Finnes’ distinguished director is comedy gold.   It’s always a pleasure to see another Coen Brothers film and this is no expectation.   Grade: A-

Imajica by Clive Barker

This ambitious project must be considered Barker’s grand magnum opus.   It’s insanely good and as wild as a story can get.   The main character is John Furie Zacharias also known as “Gentle”.   He’s basically a wizard (or Maestro) that doesn’t realize it because his mind has been wiped.   During the course of the story he learns who he is and it’s his destiny to bring about the Reconciliation of Earth.   Earth is the Fifth dominion of five Dominions or parallel worlds making up the Imajica.   Earth long ago was separated from the others.   Gentle hopes to reconnect Earth and in essence return magic and wonder to its people.  The book is jammed with explorations on Gender, Sex, God, Resurrection and so much more.  It’s fantasy of the highest order.   It’s world building brilliance.  And like most of Barker’s work, it contains fantastic characters with many of the same issues.  The love story is complex and at times you’re not quite sure if even the characters know what they want.   If you like Clive Barker and his brand of storytelling then this is a must read.   If you want your epics to contain lots of battles and you want the worlds to be populated with typical monsters than this might not be for you.   It’s a constantly evolving work of imagination and a rewarding read.   I loved it and would love to see HBO or Netflix bring it to life as a series for adults.   Probably won’t happen but it would be cool.   Grade: A-

Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

It’s pretty much what you’d expect from a returning season of a well-produced Star Trek show.  The producers improve upon what they set up in the first season, expand the character arcs and build on the universe they’ve created.  The best episodes are: Cardassians (with a Cardassian boy who was raised by Bajorans), Second Sight (a Sisko love story), Armageddon Game (an excellent mystery with O’Brien and Bashir being killed for helping rid a dangerous weapon), Paradise (Sisko and O’Brien are prisoners on a planet without technology), Blood Oath (Dax and a trio of Klingons seek out to kill an evil Klingon out of revenge), Crossover (an alternate universe story where the Klingons and Cardassians rule the Universe), and Tribunal (where O’Brien is taken prisoner and must face charges of crimes against Cardassians).  In fact there really aren’t any bad episodes.  My least favorite was probably Melora but that’s only because Bashir the lover boy gets on my nerves.  Overall a good second season for a show I think is on par with Next Generation.  Grade: A-