August 2, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review
Fiction, HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Matt Wallace, review, Sports, Wresting
Rencor: Life in Grudge City
Written by Matt Wallace
Published by From Parts Unknown Publications
“Rencor: Life in Grudge City” is the Luchador Superhero Detective novella you didn’t know you needed in your life. The eponymous setting is a U.S/Mexico border town founded in the 1950’s as a sort of hometown for luchadores. But like all things, time moves on.
Ten years ago, Technico El Victor III and Rudo Mil Calavaras III fought their last, epic match in the ring at Coleseo Rencor. The climactic battle saw the defeated Calavaras banished from Rencor, a place where the rules of the ring and the rule of are one and the same, forever. It was the beginning of the end for Luchadores in Rencor.
Now, El Victor is scraping by in a world that doesn’t hold the enmascardos in the same esteem anymore, and Mil Calavaras works as a ‘reformed’ consultant to the FBI, successful but denied his home and revenge. But an unusual break-in at Museo Rencor will bring El Victor back to hero work, and Mil Calaveras back to his hometown. Will the former rivals solve the case, or kill each other first?
Rencor: Life in Grudge City is another fast-paced, inventive, and supremely entertaining novella from Matt Wallace. Steeped in the unique lore of the lucha libre and populated by his usual eccentric and elegantly sketched characters, the book draws in the reader and gives them everything they need, even if they’ve never heard of the likes of El Santo before. Wallace’s deep knowledge and abiding love of old-school wresting shines through in every page, and the work is elevated by it. His embrace of the super-heroic and mystical bits, in a graying world that is leaving such things behind makes for a not only entertaining read, but a moving one.
While Wallace’s action scenes are outstanding and for the most part easy to follow, I think a glossary for some of the more technical moves and terms would have been helpful. I was never really lost, but Wallace throws out a lot of wrestling terminology throughout the book. That’s honestly the only criticism I can say, although I will add that the novella ends on a hell of a cliffhanger. Hopefully Matt will return to Rencor soon.
Rencor: Life in Grudge City is available in print and ebook. You can buy it via Amazon, or order it from you local bookstore.
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July 31, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Movies
HLM, Hugh Likes Movies, Marvel, movies, review, Sony, Superhero Movies
Hugh Likes Movies
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Sony/Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment
Having finally ponied up to see Spider-Man Homecoming, I have some thoughts on Sony’s third launch of the character, and I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by it.
Spider-Man Homecoming is a fresh take on the character, and it does a lot of things right that the previous movies have avoided.
The most obvious change is that Spider-Man is now firmly hooked into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the previous reboot was an attempt to keep the character walled off, the movie’s open-armed embrace of the setting was surprising, and cleverly done. Having an ongoing narrative to hook into also gives the movie the additional leg up of not having to retell Peter Parker’s origin! Director Jon Watts does everything he can to avoid it, in fact.
We get a short origin of the villains, small-business construction contractors who turned to a life of crime when they were pushed out of the cleanup of New York from the aftermath of “The Avengers.” From there, we have a short sequence of video footage showing his cameo in “Captain America: Civil War” from Peter Parker’s point of view. Not only is this everything the audience needs to be up to speed, it also highlights the other great change about this version. This Peter Parker is a dork.
The previous franchises paid lip-service to the idea, but never fully embraced this aspect. They try very hard to impress a faux-cool onto the character, either through The Amazing Spider-Man’s self-indulgent skateboarding sequences, or the best-forgotten dance sequence in Spider-Man III. Those versions of the character are still hard-luck heroes, but they try and put a gloss of hollywood polish where it simply doesn’t belong.
This character is as young as he was when he first appeared in comics, and at age fifteen, he still makes all the mistakes you would expect. He tumbles awkwardly to a stop at the end of his swings, and he bites off more than he can chew, a constant irritation to his at-arms length mentor, Tony Stark.
Spider-Man Homecoming is the best version of this character by a long shot, but the movie does stumble here and there. The soundtrack is possibly the laziest of its kind that I have heard in a long time. Composer Michael Giacchino even records a cover of the 1960’s cartoon theme song in booming Marvel brass. In a previous movie review, I made a joke about him doing orchestral Ramones covers, but I never thought I’d actually see it happen. There is also a lot of teen drama in this movie, which can drag the film down, but is brightened by co-stars Jacob Batalon and Zendaya, who fill these scenes with teen-like enthusiasm and cynicism respectively. Also, well-done on the casting director for filling Midtown High with actual teenage actors. This is the first one of these movies in a long time that felt like a real place, and the spot-on casting had a lot to do with it.
“Spider-Man Homecoming” is a refreshing swing through new territory that brings the MCU to life in ways that Marvel’s own properties have failed to do. You can catch it in theaters now.
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July 19, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review
HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Misfit Crew, review, Sci-Fi, Space Opera, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Written by Becky Chambers
Published by Harper Voyager
Sometimes the best Science Fiction is quiet and thoughtful. The genre is often buttressed by “Big Ideas” and zap-gun adventure, but my favorite stories are the slower, more character-focused novels. These are novels like Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, or Nathan Lowell’s Quarter Share. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is squarely in this sub-genre, and it excels.
Rosemary Harper is a privileged girl from the upper crust of Martian society. When she decides to escape her past and society, she takes a job as a clerk on a long-haul wormhole boring ship, The Wayfarer. The misfit crew of the ship is completely different from her former life.
While the story is framed by Rosemary’s story, it is a picaresque novel following the misadventures of the small, tightly knit crew. And the book shines in this respect. The crew of The Wayfarer are efficiently constructed, and for the most part, incredibly likable characters. From Dr. Chef, one of the last survivors of an alien species that destroyed itself in a ceaseless civil war, to Kizzy, the wild-child engineer, this book is filled with unforgettable, engaging characters that treat each other like family rather than coworkers. The upcoming Star Trek series will be lucky to be half so charming.
Chambers’ galaxy is also well presented and engaging. The places that The Wayfarer travels are all detailed and iconic. She also creates a galaxy where humans aren’t top dogs. Having poisoned our home planet and settled into a pair of bickering factions, Humanity is a minor player in galactic politics. This is always a refreshing position to take in Sci Fi, and it works really well here.
This book may not be for everyone. Chambers skips past a lot of the things traditional SF banks on. We hear about massive space battles and galactic discourse in the same way the characters do: Through news and rumors, with small hints at chewier, bigger plot elements throughout the book. This is a small, personal story, and Chambers tells it well. But if you go in expecting Senate hearings or military pomp and blaster fire, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is available from Amazon and other online booksellers, or from your local bookstore.
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June 27, 2017
hughjodonnell
Podcast, Review
CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, Jurd, NIghtmare Castle, Opopinax, Podcast, review, Rich The T T, Vaugely gothic sadism
Join the Chrononauts as we venture into the heart of a gothic castle and watch the painting spin around for a few hours.
Click HERE listen!
And HERE to watch the movie on Youtube!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it! You can also support me on Patreon for more goodies!
June 19, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review
HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Matt Wallace, review, Sin Du Jour, Urban Fantasy
Sin du Jour: Greedy Pigs
Written by Matt Wallace
Published by Tor
We’re on book five of Matt Wallace’s seven course Sin du Jour series, and if you aren’t onboard by now, I don’t know what to tell you. These novellas haven’t stopped kicking ass, and “Greedy Pigs” is no less great than the preceding four.
After being embroiled in supernatural politics and nearly taken over, Sin du Jour finds themselves catering the gala festivities as the new President of the supernatural community is installed. But something bad is coming, plans are being laid, and Lena’s best friend and fellow line chef Darren is in the center of them.
Everything that makes Wallace’s work great is still on display here. The characters are efficiently but deeply rendered, the plotting is tight, and the writing is just as wickedly sharp as ever. As things hit the fan, the humor is a bit less on display, although Wallace still finds places to sprinkle comic scenes in, such as a set of errands Lena and Bronko make early in the story that are by turns funny, charming, and bittersweet, with some uncomfortable revelations about pandas.
Greedy Pigs is the fifth part of Wallace’s seven part Sin du Jour series, which you really should be reading by now. Go read it in ebook or print, and be sure to find out more about it on Tor.com.
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June 13, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Podcasts
Comics Alliance, Elle Collins, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Kieran Shiach, review, The Monster Society of Comics
The Monster Society of Comics
Hosted by Elle Collins and Kieran Shiach
goodeggpodcasts.com
You belong in the Monster Society of Comics. That is the central tenet of this new podcast, hosted by veteran podcasters and former Comics Alliance writers Kieran Shiach and Elle Collins. Once a month, the hosts and two guests each present their top comics pick from the last month. It doesn’t have to be a comic that was published in the last month, just their favorite thing they read. Each comic is carefully considered by the panel. They also discuss comics news and read listener submissions of favorite comics for the month.
Two episodes in, The Monster Society of Comics is off to a great start. Unfortunately, it is plagued by audio issues that I hope are resolved in further installments. The most glaring of these is the recording levels of the participants. Elle’s audio in particular is very loud, while Kieran’s is often too low. Leveling a podcast recorded over VoIP is always a challenge, but the podcast needed almost constant adjustment.
That issue aside, The Monster Society of Comics is shaping up to be a great forum for positive and intelligent criticism, which is something that the internet sorely needs in the wake of Comics Alliance shutting down. You can find it online at GoodeggPodcasts.com and in the podcatcher of your choice.
Thank you for reading this review. If you enjoyed it, please share it! You can also support me on Patreon for more goodies!
May 30, 2017
hughjodonnell
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast
Gundam Wing, hugh, Inappropriate First Aid Behavior, Jason Banks, JRD, Lauren Harris, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, review
Join the full Nostalgia Pilots crew as we kick off our first episode by diving in to 1995’s Mobile Suit Gundam Wing! Learn how Jason, Hugh, Jurd, and Scribe first came to know and love giant robots, and the psychopathic teens that pilot them!
Then, sit down and hear their thoughts on “Episode One: The Shooting Star She Saw!” Will Operation Meteor free the colonies from the tyrannical grip of the Alliance Military? Or will ace soldier and fashion icon Zechs Marquise take out our heroes before they reach the ground? And more importantly, Will Heero make it to Relena’s birthday party?
Episode One: Natural Born Gundams
May 17, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction
HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Mur Lafferty, Mystery, review, Sci-Fi
Six Wakes
Written by Mur Lafferty
Publishedd by Orbit
Six Wakes is the ultimate Sci-Fi locked room mystery. The six-person crew of the Dormire wakes up in the cloning lab. They are staring at their own corpses, with no memory of what happened, or anything else, for the last 24 years of their interstellar journey. Light-years from Earth, they’ll have to figure out what happened and how to survive when at least one of the crew is a murderer.
This novel is a story of paranoia, survival, and the ethics of cloning and life extension. Mur’s story is full of rich characters, drama, and unexpected twists. But what I found most interesting were the choices Lafferty made in building her world. The premise hangs on some very hard science astrophysics to build the sense of tension and isolation. This isn’t a quick warp through the galaxy. The characters have been stuck together for a very long time, and they have a much, much longer way to go. The cloning technology, however, is very soft SF. It’s a surprising choice, considering how much of the story, and the mystery, relies on it.
While she never breaks her own rules, Lafferty focuses on the ethics and moral issues of life extension, and what a world where some people will effectively live forever and others won’t, means, and the paradox of the ultimate revenge being reduced to a minor inconvenience. The cloning tech, however, is based on a movie-producer’s idea of how hacking works, and literal glowing goo. I wasn’t particularly bothered by this choice, but hard SF purists may consider it cheating.
Six Wakes is a chiller of a Sci-Fi mystery filled with interesting ideas and plenty of tension. You can find it at your local bookstore, or in print and ebook from Amazon.
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May 15, 2017
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Video Games
HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Indie Game, Playstation, PS Plus, PS Vita, review, Typography
Type:Rider, A Typographic Videogame
Created by: Cosmographik
Played on PS Vita
What if “Limbo” was about fonts? This is the premise of Type:Rider a combination documentary and puzzle-platformer from Cosmographik. Players take control of a humble colon as they roll through levels based on the history of typography, from cave paintings all the way to desktop publishing. The level architecture is made up of huge landscapes of letters.
Type:Rider isn’t particularly challenging, but it is very clever in its design choices. For the most part, your : handles like an implied motorcycle. You can move forward or back, and you can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise using the L and R triggers to navigate terrain. If either of your periods hits certain obstacles, usually shown in red, you die and have to start again, usually close by. For the most part, all of the collectable goodies are easy to spot and collect, although a few require some thought or dexterity, particularly the hidden ampersands. But this is a game that wants you to collect its secrets, and the main game is quite casual.
Each World is devoted to a different style of font, and collecting asterisks scattered throughout the levels unlocks short articles about notable figures or events in the development of print.
There is a “Speedrun” course for each level that is much more challenging once you complete each one for more skilled players. The music in each level is thematic, but the compositions are short and have a droning quality that gets annoying after a while. The only other downside is that the game is very Eurocentric. Outside a few short sections in the “Origins” chapter, the game focuses entirely on Roman characters. I would’ve loved to learn more about typography’s development in other languages.
Type:Rider isn’t a longterm commitment of a game, but it is quite clever and the subject matter is unexpected and interesting. Playstation Plus members can pick up this curiosity for free this month. It is also available on Steam and for mobile devices.
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May 12, 2017
hughjodonnell
Podcast
CCR, Cooper Really Sucks, Cooper Sucks, hugh, JRD, Night of the Living Dead, Opopinax, review, Rich The T T, They're coming to get you, Zombies
The Chrononauts gather to profit off of the mistakes of a 1960’s film distributor and watch George Romero’s public-domain milestone, “Night of the Living Dead!”
Click HERE to listen!
If you somehow haven’t seen it, click HERE and settle in!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it, or leave us a review on your favorite podcatcher! You can also support Hugh on Patreon for more goodies!
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