Here we go again, with all of the media I finished in the last week, ranked from worst to best:
WORST: Resurrection season 2, episode 1: Now, technically this isn't a bad show. It's a perfectly well-executed mix of small-town drama and government conspiracy, revolving around the premise of dead people returning to life. It's decent, but it's exactly the sort of thing I dislike. Mostly it involves miserable people standing around and talking about their emotions, and let's just say that's not something I go to for entertainment. It's especially not something I ever wanted to see from Kurtwood Smith, aka That 70s Dad aka the villain from Robocop. Still, my wife likes it, and I don't find it offensively bad. For me, it's filler until Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead return.
Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar Rice Burroughs: This is the ninth Tarzan book by Burroughs, and it doesn't bring anything new to the table. Like most of Burroughs' work it's plotted rather shambolically, though I must say it hangs together better than many of his other books. The main story involves a group of ruthless treasure seekers who come to Africa with a Tarzan impersonator. In typical Burroughs fashion there's a lengthy sequence in which Tarzan finds a hidden valley ruled by sentient gorillas and overthrows their society, and it has no bearing on the main storyline at all. Still, despite its shortcomings its a diverting adventure yarn that doesn't outstay its welcome. It's exactly the sort of unchallenging material that I find perfect for audiobooks.
X-Men: Battle of the Atom by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Brian Wood (writers) and Frank Cho, Stuart Immonen, Chris Bachalo (artists), among others: This story was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the X-Men in 2013, but in many ways it's decided to celebrate the worst aspects of the franchise. The premise is pretty gonzo, but I'll try to outline it as simply as I can: the original X-Men have been brought forward from the past, which is causing damage to the timestream. Two rival X-Men teams come from the future with opposing views on how to solve the problem, while the X-Men from the present are caught in the middle. Not too hard to figure out the problem with this story, is it? Surprisingly there are quite a lot of good character moments, and it begins well with the original X-Men on the run, but by the end it gets swamped by the sheer number of characters, many of whom only exist for this story. The number of characters isn't the only problem, as the constant switching between writers and artists results in a jarring read at times. That said, this is exactly the kind of story I love. I didn't care for the execution so much, but the madcap scope of it is right in my wheelhouse.
WWE Raw episode 1,132: It's that rare gem, a really rather good episode of Raw. The matches were mostly high quality, the storyline segments made sense, and there was nothing that left me shaking my head in disbelief. It's a low bar to clear, but it's shocking how often the WWE fails to do just that. Special props to Damien Sandow, for making me laugh simply by standing still.
All-New X-Men #1-15 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen and others: These are the comics that set up the premise of Battle of the Atom (described above). With the X-Men in an ideological split, the Beast decides to bring the original team from the past to show Cyclops the error of his ways. What results is some quality interpersonal drama, as the original teenage X-Men react to all the terrible things that have happened to them over the course of five decades worth of comics, and everyone else reacts to having these kids around. Bendis excels at this kind of stuff, even if I do find his pacing a little too slow at times.
Showing posts with label Tarzan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tarzan. Show all posts
Friday, February 6, 2015
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
The Deadly Doldrums
I have not done a great deal of writing in the last few weeks, either on
my novel or on this blog. Much of that can be blamed on the Doctor Who
shaped vortex that I fell into following the recent miraculous recovery
of nine presumed-lost-forever episodes. But aside from that, I think it
has a lot to do with where I am in my burgeoning career at this point.
Let's review. I've finished my first novel, and published it on Amazon (both as an e-book and in paperback); I can't put it up anywhere else just yet, because I'm signed up to Kindle Select (and that means I'll be giving it away for free at some point in the near future; watch this space!). I'm working on a second book, but that's nowhere close to completion, nor are the non-fiction projects I'm tinkering with. I have no money to pursue proper marketing, and sales have dried up. I'm running a giveaway on Goodreads, but that doesn't finish for a few days. I'm in limbo. There's no concrete task ahead of me except for "write more". I'm no longer getting the addictive buzz that comes with seeing another sale come in. I have no writing to submit anywhere, and nothing that's ready to hand out to my fellows for feedback, ergo I'm not going to get the periodic ego boost that often drives me forward. As I said, I'm in writing limbo.
I'm sure that this is something every writer faces, but sometimes just writing is the most daunting part of the process, even though it's the whole damn reason we do this (oh yeah, and the aforementioned ego stroking). That's the only solution: write more. It's not as easy as it sounds.
WHAT ELSE I'M DOING
I've been listening to Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in the series. As you may have guessed, this one is about Tarzan's young son Jack Clayton, aka Korak. And he is insufferable. Which is odd, because in may ways he is exactly like Tarzan: noble, physically impressive, morally righteous, etc. And yet while I find Tarzan likable enough, I'd be happy for Korak to get eaten by a crocodile post haste.
Perhaps the reason for this is to do with the backgrounds of the characters, and how they came to be the way they are. Both of them are basically amazing at everything. Tarzan gained these attributes through an arduous childhood raised by apes, slowly progressing from weak child to muscular super-man and earning every skill along the way. Korak is just born that way. He's rich, because Tarzan is rich. He's strong because Tarzan is strong. He's naturally great as soon as he goes into the jungle, and everyone loves him. (Also, he's a bit racist.)
See the difference? The reader is with Tarzan every step of the way as he goes from weak to strong. Korak starts as strong and super-human, and stays that way. And I HATE HIM. If a character is going to be super-competent, he has to be seen to earn that competence. Especially so, if he's going to do so at the expense of established characters in a series. Korak hasn't done that yet, but I'm only halfway done; there's still time for the little bugger to prove himself.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES
What I've Been Reading
About Time Vol. 3 & 4 by Tat Wood & Lawrence Miles
Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
What I've Been Watching
Red Dwarf season 5
Torchwood season 1
What I've Been Listening To
Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys
What I've Been Playing
Need for Speed: The Run on the Nintendo Wii (yes, still)
Let's review. I've finished my first novel, and published it on Amazon (both as an e-book and in paperback); I can't put it up anywhere else just yet, because I'm signed up to Kindle Select (and that means I'll be giving it away for free at some point in the near future; watch this space!). I'm working on a second book, but that's nowhere close to completion, nor are the non-fiction projects I'm tinkering with. I have no money to pursue proper marketing, and sales have dried up. I'm running a giveaway on Goodreads, but that doesn't finish for a few days. I'm in limbo. There's no concrete task ahead of me except for "write more". I'm no longer getting the addictive buzz that comes with seeing another sale come in. I have no writing to submit anywhere, and nothing that's ready to hand out to my fellows for feedback, ergo I'm not going to get the periodic ego boost that often drives me forward. As I said, I'm in writing limbo.
I'm sure that this is something every writer faces, but sometimes just writing is the most daunting part of the process, even though it's the whole damn reason we do this (oh yeah, and the aforementioned ego stroking). That's the only solution: write more. It's not as easy as it sounds.
WHAT ELSE I'M DOING
I've been listening to Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in the series. As you may have guessed, this one is about Tarzan's young son Jack Clayton, aka Korak. And he is insufferable. Which is odd, because in may ways he is exactly like Tarzan: noble, physically impressive, morally righteous, etc. And yet while I find Tarzan likable enough, I'd be happy for Korak to get eaten by a crocodile post haste.
Perhaps the reason for this is to do with the backgrounds of the characters, and how they came to be the way they are. Both of them are basically amazing at everything. Tarzan gained these attributes through an arduous childhood raised by apes, slowly progressing from weak child to muscular super-man and earning every skill along the way. Korak is just born that way. He's rich, because Tarzan is rich. He's strong because Tarzan is strong. He's naturally great as soon as he goes into the jungle, and everyone loves him. (Also, he's a bit racist.)
See the difference? The reader is with Tarzan every step of the way as he goes from weak to strong. Korak starts as strong and super-human, and stays that way. And I HATE HIM. If a character is going to be super-competent, he has to be seen to earn that competence. Especially so, if he's going to do so at the expense of established characters in a series. Korak hasn't done that yet, but I'm only halfway done; there's still time for the little bugger to prove himself.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES
What I've Been Reading
About Time Vol. 3 & 4 by Tat Wood & Lawrence Miles
Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
What I've Been Watching
Red Dwarf season 5
Torchwood season 1
What I've Been Listening To
Ill Communication by The Beastie Boys
What I've Been Playing
Need for Speed: The Run on the Nintendo Wii (yes, still)
Monday, September 23, 2013
Do I Really Want to Be a Writer?
Is this what I really want?
That's the question I find myself asking right now. For a month or so after publishing Jack Manley I was awash with enthusiasm for writing. I had an Amazon store to maintain, an internet presence to establish, blogs to run and most importantly, books to write. This was going to by the focal point of my existence for the foreseeable future, and I was happy with that. I felt like I had found what I wanted to do with my life.
So why in the last fortnight has my productivity slowed to a crawl? Why am I watching Doctor Who, browsing message boards, playing Hearts and basically spending my spare time doing anything else except for writing? It's certainly not that I don't have the time. Yes, I have a full-time job and a family, but I can always find time to write. If I can play Hearts for three hours as I did on Friday night, there are no excuses.
So I find myself asking the question: do I really want to be a writer? The answer in my head is always yes, and yet my actions say the opposite, and I don't know why. It could be fear of failure. It could be the thought that my writing probably won't have any lasting value, so what's the point of doing it. It could just be plain laziness. I really don't know what the problem is.
What I do know is that this is a pattern. I go through cycles. Sometimes I feel like I need to experience everything the world has to offer, to constantly fill my brain with stories and songs and ideas, and to create as much as I can. Then there are times when I feel the futility of life, and the realisation that in a hundred years I and everyone I ever met will be gone and forgotten, and anything I accomplish with my life is probably pointless. Needless to say, those are not my most productive periods.
The good news is that I eventually snap out of my black moods, and get back to the business of living. Tonight I've been productive. Perhaps I just need to accept that this is how I am, and that there will be periods of productivity mixed with periods of procrastination. And to always answer the question I keep asking myself: hell yes, I want to be a writer.
WHAT ELSE I'M DOING
I'm on a big Edgar Rice Burroughs kick at the moment, devouring his Tarzan novels. I've read the first two, and they are much more interesting than I would have suspected. You would never see movie Tarzan wandering the streets of Paris in a depression, drinking absinthe and going to the opera. Or working as a French secret agent.
As a novelist, Burroughs is what I would charitably label "unpolished". His books are a structural mess, and his reliance on coincidence to move the plot forward borders on the absurd. Nevertheless, they work. They just barrel forwards with breathless prose, and if a certain plot twist doesn't make sense it doesn't matter, because Tarzan's about to snap a lion's neck with a full nelson. Burroughs is probably the earliest writer that I can read for pure pleasure, because his books are just packed with event. You never have to worry about slow patches in one of his books, that's for certain.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES
What I've Been Reading
The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
About Time Vol. 2 by Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles
What I've Been Watching
Doctor Who: The Highlanders
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks
Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks
Iron Man 3
Looper
Oblivion
What I've Been Playing
Need for Speed: The Run on the Nintendo Wii
That's the question I find myself asking right now. For a month or so after publishing Jack Manley I was awash with enthusiasm for writing. I had an Amazon store to maintain, an internet presence to establish, blogs to run and most importantly, books to write. This was going to by the focal point of my existence for the foreseeable future, and I was happy with that. I felt like I had found what I wanted to do with my life.
So why in the last fortnight has my productivity slowed to a crawl? Why am I watching Doctor Who, browsing message boards, playing Hearts and basically spending my spare time doing anything else except for writing? It's certainly not that I don't have the time. Yes, I have a full-time job and a family, but I can always find time to write. If I can play Hearts for three hours as I did on Friday night, there are no excuses.
So I find myself asking the question: do I really want to be a writer? The answer in my head is always yes, and yet my actions say the opposite, and I don't know why. It could be fear of failure. It could be the thought that my writing probably won't have any lasting value, so what's the point of doing it. It could just be plain laziness. I really don't know what the problem is.
What I do know is that this is a pattern. I go through cycles. Sometimes I feel like I need to experience everything the world has to offer, to constantly fill my brain with stories and songs and ideas, and to create as much as I can. Then there are times when I feel the futility of life, and the realisation that in a hundred years I and everyone I ever met will be gone and forgotten, and anything I accomplish with my life is probably pointless. Needless to say, those are not my most productive periods.
The good news is that I eventually snap out of my black moods, and get back to the business of living. Tonight I've been productive. Perhaps I just need to accept that this is how I am, and that there will be periods of productivity mixed with periods of procrastination. And to always answer the question I keep asking myself: hell yes, I want to be a writer.
WHAT ELSE I'M DOING
I'm on a big Edgar Rice Burroughs kick at the moment, devouring his Tarzan novels. I've read the first two, and they are much more interesting than I would have suspected. You would never see movie Tarzan wandering the streets of Paris in a depression, drinking absinthe and going to the opera. Or working as a French secret agent.
As a novelist, Burroughs is what I would charitably label "unpolished". His books are a structural mess, and his reliance on coincidence to move the plot forward borders on the absurd. Nevertheless, they work. They just barrel forwards with breathless prose, and if a certain plot twist doesn't make sense it doesn't matter, because Tarzan's about to snap a lion's neck with a full nelson. Burroughs is probably the earliest writer that I can read for pure pleasure, because his books are just packed with event. You never have to worry about slow patches in one of his books, that's for certain.
OTHER TIME-WASTING ACTIVITIES
What I've Been Reading
The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
About Time Vol. 2 by Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles
What I've Been Watching
Doctor Who: The Highlanders
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks
Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks
Iron Man 3
Looper
Oblivion
What I've Been Playing
Need for Speed: The Run on the Nintendo Wii
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