Welcome to the Escape Velocity Collection!
We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
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- Movie directed by Alex Garland
- Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac
- Released 21 January 2015
- Runtime: 108 minutes
I haven’t heard anyone talk about this movie, probably ever. It is also nearly 10 years old. So… why am I reviewing it? Because it is a rare example of a thoughtful sci-fi movie and for that alone, it deserves more attention than it gets.
The best thing about Ex Machina is that it is a science fiction film that takes a philosophical approach. I feel that most science fiction is mostly an excuse for flashy action scenes and big explosions. Ex Machina is different. It is much more thoughtful and slow-moving, even verging on horror at times when the suspense builds up. That is not to say that it is not engaging – I think right up until the climax, Ex Machina is very well paced.
The most disappointing thing about Ex Machina is probably that the philosophical questions it asks are literally as old as the genre: if she were still alive, Mary Shelley might have sued for copyright infringement of Frankenstein.
Does that take away from the enjoyment of watching the movie? I guess for me it did somewhat – the familiarity of the plot made the whole movie somewhat forgettable. It is perhaps not quite the conversation starter I feel it intended to be. Then again, not everyone has seen/read as much science fiction as I have, and to many others, Ex Machina might actually break new ground.
And the interesting thing is that Ex Machina is actually an eminently watchable introduction to a genre that might push many people away with constantly glorified violence. Put somewhat un-woke, this is a sci-fi movie that your girlfriend might actually want to watch.
And while the plot is not new, Ex Machina does a quality retelling of that familiar struggle. The script (particularly the dialogue) is strong. There are only a handful of characters (three, or four, depending on how you count), each of which is very well portrayed. Their interactions, which are at the core of the movie, are believable and constantly filled with tension. There are no good guys, no bad guys, just characters and the viewer’s own judgment.
So, despite being 10 years old and mostly forgotten, Ex Machina might actually scratch an itch that only gets scratched very rarely. Don’t miss out!
- Novel written by Deborah Harkness
- Published in 2011
- Part one of the All Souls Trilogy
Oof. This book started off with promise, and then took a NOSEDIVE, unfortunately.
A Discovery of Witches is the first novel in the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I found out about it through an influencer, who has talked about it so much that I ended up buying the second novel when I found it at the thrift store, then the third, and finally this book. It’s about witches and vampires, so I waited until autumn to read it. For the Vibes, of course.
The first one hundred pages or so I quite liked it. It’s marketed as being “Twilight for adults”. I used to love Twilight as a 14-year-old, and like many, I’ve recently come to realise that it really wasn’t such a bad book after all. Because of this change of heart, I was optimistic about the premise of this book. Even if it isn’t the most high-brow novel, at least it’ll be fun, right?
As I stated, the book starts off quite well. It definitely has an “autumn” feel to it. A Discovery of Witches starts in Oxford, and it has a fun “dark academia” vibe to it. The main character is Diana, a witch who doesn’t like to use her magic because of a tragic incident that killed her parents. She’s not a particularly interesting character but she’s not outright unlikeable. Yet.
Everything goes horribly wrong when she meets Matthew, a vampire. Vampires and witches don’t really mix, but of course, Diana and Matthew quickly fall in love. Diana turns out to actually be a really powerful witch (who saw that coming?) and Matthew is a 1500(!) year old vampire.
The story teases a plot at the beginning, with Diana doing research and accidentally uncovering an ancient, important manuscript that makes her a target for other magical creatures. Unfortunately, this “plot” is quickly tossed out of the window for the revelation that there’s a “congregation” of magical creatures who have decided that inter-magical species dating is against magical law. Next thing I knew, the following 500 or so pages were just about Diana and Matthew’s “forbidden love”. Nothing of interest happens. It was an absolute slog to get through. Mind you I had the whole trilogy on my shelf. Rest assured that books 2 and 3 are going straight back to the thrift store with their sibling.
So sure, let’s say the full focus of these books is on the relationship between Matthew and Diana, and the reader shouldn’t expect more plot than that. Even then, they are an insufferable couple. After they meet, Matthew stalks her for a while, following her home, breaking in and watching her sleep (a classing YA vampire move). Diana is initially extremely put off by his frankly creepy vibe. Even so, the timeline between them meeting and Matthew stating that because they have confessed their love to each other they are now Vampire Married (!!) is no more than a couple of weeks. Matthew is extremely controlling. Everyone does what he tells him to. It’s not because he is ancient, because his “mother” Ysabeau is even older than him. He’s just a jerk.
Diana turns into an empty vessel of a character after she and Matthew get “married”. She happily tolerates his controlling behaviour, and even starts referring to his 100+ year old vampire children as “her children”. I guess this isn’t super relevant information for this review but I hated it SO SO much I guess I just needed to rant about it a little here.
Near the end, two more characters are introduced, but they are DEEPLY irrelevant to the book. There’s a guy who’s just sort of there, and his wife who is pregnant. That’s her whole thing. It’s very much a set-up for the sequels that the author tries very hard to make you not read.
The writing overall is FINE, but this was truly a 700 page novel about nothing and near the end all I wanted to do was scream.
- Movie directed by Rupert Sanders
- Starring Scarlett Johansson, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt, Pilou Asbaek, and Juliette Binoche
- Released 31 March 2017
- Runtime: 107 minutes
When I reviewed the Mamuro Oshii animated version of Ghost in the Shell, I praised the visuals to high heaven and lamented that Japanese story telling has a tendency to buckle under the pressure of the third act. So when I sat down to watch Rupert Sanders’ (who?) live action version, I was looking forward to a plot with a stronger structure and a more grounded conclusion.
I was disappointed.
Given the deep mediocrity of this movie’s script, I think rating it 2 stars is actually rather generous.
The live action Ghost in the Shell is a perfectly passable, forgettable, 13-to-a-dozen Hollywood action movie. Just slightly boring, but inoffensive in its mediocrity, a good solution to a craving for something mindless to put on while scrolling on your phone on the couch.
I believe it really only has three claims to fame: (i) it is a remake of a cult classic; (ii) it stars Scarlett Johansson; (iii) there was some woke controversy over casting a virtually all non-Japanese cast in a movie set in Japan (click that link, I know you want the drama). If not for those things, I’m guessing we would all already have forgotten this version of Ghost in the Shell even exists.
I’m trying to think of any way in which it improved upon the animated version of the same movie, but I’m having a tough time. In fact, I think the live action version of the movie is at its best when it mimics the classic visual shots from the animated movie. Which makes you wonder, why are you watching this if you could be watching the animated version of the movie instead?
Don’t get me wrong, I have watched much worse movies. The live action Ghost in the Shell is not terrible. The visuals are good and occasionally even great. The action is spectacular, though not in any way that sets it apart from action we’ve seen before. You get to look at Scarlett Johansson in a skin-tight suit. It ticks all the boxes we expect an action movie to tick.
It’s just… so pointless. Why remake a movie if you’re not going to improve upon it in any way?
I’m especially disappointed with the writers, who took it upon themselves to include a Message ™ in the movie and then COMPLETELY botched it. I’m actually so mad at the lost potential that I might write up a Fiction Fix just to rant about it. The script is where this movie could have so easily improved upon (or lets at least say, added to) its source material.
Instead, we get a failed attempt at philosophy and a liberal sprinkling of narrative dead ends and cringe. ScarJo tries her best on the terrible lines she’s given. So does Juliette Binoche. Pilou Asbaek actually makes Batou kind of work. But some of the toe-curling dialogue doomed them to failure right from the start. In a movie that is all about the rule of cool, even the main characters only just manage to clear that bar.
Ah well. Go watch the movie if you want to, there’s worse ways to spend a rainy evening. But don’t blame me if you forget to pause it when you go to the toilet.
- Short story collection written by Isaac Asimov
- Published December 2, 1950
As proposed by Peter, I read Asimov’s I, Robot as a first step in my training to become a science fiction connoisseur. Somewhat to both our surprise, I very much enjoyed it.
When I started reading I, Robot, I didn’t know what to expect, though I quickly suspected that the Will Smith on the cover would have little to do with the original stories written in the 1940’s. I struggled a little with the framing narrative introduction, something Peter eventually told me was probably created later to link all the stories in this collection together. The first story, however, was quick to capture my attention .The same was true for all the stories thereafter.
Despite its age, the prose of I, Robot is very approachable. Not only that, but I would say that the future Asimov paints still feels relevant: a world in which technology advances beyond our wildest dreams, but remains limited by petty human politics and emotions. Asimov’s worldbuilding of this future is misleadingly simple, focussing on the Three Laws of Robotics, a set of rules that together determine how robots can (or cannot) act. Most of the stories in this collection revolve around these premise. In some stories, the interaction between these laws is the main conflict, in other stories the question whether these laws have been broken, and if so, how? I had a lot of fun trying to solve the stories’ mysteries before the protagonists did. I suspect fans of hard magic systems might appreciate Asimov’s Laws of Robotics as well.
When it comes to characters and emotional beats, I, Robot has little to offer. All in all, only two stories came close to pulling my heartstrings. Though I liked Dr. Susan Calvin – the only major female character in this collection, I believe – and her ‘robots are much better than humans’ attitude, her characterization remains rather flat. The same goes for Powell and Donovan and their amusing shenanigans. All characters remain subservient to the central ideas in each story. The same can be said for the frame story, which ends rather abruptly without really saying something. Still, when you take some time to reflect on the different stories at the end, you’ll land on some (bleak) overarching questions and conclusions, that Asimov probably wanted to evoke.
In conclusion, after reading I, Robot I can certainly see how Asimov had a lasting impact on the science fiction genre. For all those that want to follow in my footsteps and wish to better acquaint themselves with this genre, I think I, Robot is indeed a good place to start this journey.
- Novel written by Tamsyn Muir
- Published September 10th, 2019
- Part one of the Locked Tomb series
I’ve seen Gideon the Ninth around for a long time, and I was never hugely interested in reading it. I’ll be honest: I don’t care for the skull face paint, so I was never really drawn to the cover. I did know that other people were loving it, though. Recently I decided to go back to listening to audiobooks, and Gideon the Ninth was the first book I ended up listening to.
I have to preface this review by saying that I kind of struggle with audiobooks sometimes. I’m really bad at listening! If I were to rewind every time I noticed my attention drifting elsewhere, I’d have to rewind pretty much a whole book. I don’t think Gideon the Ninth was the right book to listen to for me, to be quite honest. A LOT happens, and there is a huge cast of characters. It even starts with a Dramatis Personae, which had me slightly worried. I think if I’d read the physical book it may have been easier for me to keep up with who’s whom. Overall I don’t think I missed out on a lot, but the characters did all blend into one a little bit (with some exceptions). If you don’t struggle with paying attention, I would really recommend the audiobook, because Moira Quirk does a phenomenal job of narrating this story.
Gideon the Ninth is one of those books that are very hard to categorise. It’s kind of fantasy, kind of sci-fi, kind of horror? At the same time, it’s really none of those genres. It’s always refreshing to find a book like this. It also means that it can be slightly harder to understand the characters and their motives. The book starts with Gideon wanting to escape the Ninth House, but while it is clear what she’s trying to escape from, it wasn’t at all clear to me where she wanted to escape to. Even at the end of the book, you don’t have much of a sense of what the universe of Gideon the Ninth is like. The novel doesn’t really evoke anything familiar, which means it has to work a little harder on the characters to keep the reader engaged.
The main characters are where Gideon the Ninth really shines. Gideon is a phenomenal main character, and her relationship with Harrowhark Nonagesimus is really fun to read. I also really enjoyed the character of Dulcinea Septimus.
The style of writing felt very young adult, but not in a bad way (because yes, I’m sorry, there IS a bad way). It is quite unusual in that the writing does not feel fitting to the setting of the story. However, it’s done in such an intentional way that it becomes a charming feature rather than a distracting one.
Overall I wish I would have read the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook. While the audiobook was great, I think I would have retained more if my mind hadn’t been able to wander so often. I may well be reading the sequel sometime soon!
Listened to the audiobook with Moira Quirk. No trouble with the narrator, but I have to agree with Lotte that a book that throws a dramatis personae your way, introduces a cast of characters with similar sounding silly names, then tosses them and re-introduces a completely different and even larger cast of characters with (somewhat) similar sounding silly names is perhaps best read rather than listened to. I’m generally an attentive listener, but it took me a few hours until I finally looked up fan drawings of the characters so I could start telling them apart. I didn’t feel like I missed much, though, which may or may not say a lot about this book and/or about me.
Gideon the Ninth is one of the weirder books I’ve read recently. I mean, whoever came up with a Halloween-decorations-spooky-science-fantasy-horror young adult novel about lesbian necromancers and also fencing? I certainly wouldn’t have. And to be honest, that’s maybe one of the reasons Gideon the Ninth didn’t click for me.
Tamsyn Muir deserves all kinds of credit for bringing together these tropes and creating perhaps one of the most unexpected novels put to paper over the last years. In a sense, it is what the speculative genre is all about: coming up with new ideas and combinations that trigger the imagination.
This time, though, the result sort of fell flat for me. Muir makes a very deliberate choice to have her teenagers in this science fantasy horror universe sound like, and act like, modern day teenagers. Which, let’s be real, is kind of cringe. Intentional cringe, but still cringe. This combines with the edgy Halloween-horror vibe and Warhammer-level over the top silly names (”Harrowhark Nonagesimus” “Coronabeth Tridentarius” “Priamhark Noniusvianus” – I did not just come up with those) for a level of cringe that was, frankly, a little much to stomach.
Now, I realise that edgy teenage cringe is probably a more interesting/original take on this kind of story than Grimdark Pessimism and Deep Suffering ™ would have been. Unfortunately, I seem to sometimes like Grimdark Pessimism and Deep Suffering ™ and edgy teenage cringe, well, not so much.
So, what we are left with is a story that is amazingly original and creative, but makes all the wrong choices for me to like it. Clearly the potential was there. Unfortunately, rather than focusing on word building, or an interesting hard-magic-necromancy-system, or complex politics between the houses, or even, really, a strong mystery plot, Muir goes for teenage rivalry and anxiety and hormones. The wider universe never really comes into focus, the nine houses are nominally different but I didn’t feel any depth to those differences, the plot is perfectly functional but not really set up for the reader to actually guess ahead of the characters so you’re really just along for the ride. In conclusion: not a bad book at all, but I am very much not the target audience.
One point I do need to go into though. The fencing. Our protagonist Gideon is a fencer! In fact, she does (two-handed) longsword (just like me!) and is then forced to switch over to (single handed) rapier. You can tell that Muir must have had some level of input from an actual HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts)-practitioner, because she gets too much right for it to be a mere coincidence. Fights are quick and decisive, weapons are used like they’re supposed to be used. Some of the best dueling scenes I’ve read in a long while! I’m honestly pretty impressed.
But I have a feeling she doesn’t actually fence herself. She describes Gideon’s trouble switching from longsword to rapier. Of course I’m not Gideon, but I’m a longsword fencer occasionally dabbling in rapier, and I can tell you that my main struggle is that you’re constantly trying to use a rapier as a cutting sword when it really isn’t well suited for that – besides that, principles from the bind aren’t all that different between rapier and longsword. Unlike Gideon, I was using my second hand just fine (but then, I also did some saber and messer, and we train wrestling with the sword on a semi-regular basis so I am not afraid of taking a hand off my grip every now and then). Still, the fact that I’m even able to have this kinds of a discussion is a win in my book!
Tagged:
- Action, Adventure, Atmospheric, Award winning, Bonding, Book, Character-Driven, Dystopian, Fantasy, Female Author, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ+, Locus Award, Low Fantasy, Mysterious Parentage, Mystery, Occult, Original Setting, Quest, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction, Series, Teenagers, Violence & Gore, Young Adult
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- Book written by Shelley Parker-Chan
- Published 22 August 2023
- Part 2 in Radiant Emperor
Listened to the audiobook with Natalie Naudus again – would definitely recommend the experience to make China actually sound Chinese.
I was very enthousiastic about She Who Became the Sun, a book I randomly picked up because of the Hugo nomination. Ever since I’ve finished it, I have been recommending it left and right, in particular for its historically plausible inclusion of 21st-century themes in a book set in medieval China. I’ve had the sequel to She Who Became the Sun on my release radar ever since I finished the first book, and I loaded He Who Drowned the World into my player almost the moment it became available.
And it did not disappoint!
He Who Drowned the World is a lot darker than She Who Became the Sun, and by ‘a lot’ I mean a big lot. The first book has some negative themes, such as revenge and body dysphoria. And of course, Zhu will literally and figuratively kill to reach her fate. But Zhu is, on the whole, an optimist with a positive drive.
He Who Drowned the World, however…
The second book focusses on Wang Baoxiang, the new Prince of Henan – as a point of view character in addition to Zhu. And he is one of the most tormented characters I’ve ever read, with frightening self-loathing and purpose dripping off the pages . Reading his chapters filled me with equal measures of disgust, pity and awe. To think this is only Parker-Chan’s second book and already she has developed such finesse in making her character’s deepest, darkest thoughts feel true makes you almost dread what torment she will bring to her pages in the future.
I would compare the darkness of He Who Drowned the World to Joe Abercrombie’s writing, but Parker-Chan doesn’t mix in the black British humour that Abercrombie does, making the read a whole lot heavier.
The darkness Wang Baoxiang injects into the narrative fits well with the theme of this second book. A whole cast of characters, each with their own glowing mandate of heaven, is vying for the throne of the Great Khan. As they battle each other for the best position to take on the capital of Dadu, each in turn is confronted by the cost of their great desire. What are they willing to sacrifice to become Great Khan? What must they do to make it all worth it?
I think this is a great theme for a novel which really drives home the point that ‘no really, they are all the villain’. Each of the pretenders tears apart those around them and must leave something of themselves behind to reach that one goal. In a way, He Who Drowned the World fits the frame of a classic Shakespearian tragedy very well.
So Parker-Chan deserves the highest praise for her character writing. Does the rest of the book hold up?
Well, it’s probably not what you’re reading the series for, but it is not bad either. He Who Drowned the World has nothing of the classic comfort we all know from the first book in a fantasy series, but rather dives straight into the action, both at court and on the battlefield. Really though, all of the plot is strictly in service of the character arcs of the main characters; and while there are tense moments, they exist for the characters to doubt their conviction rather than for any real chance the plan will fall apart.
I would even go as far as to say that the book has a bit of a weak point in Zhu’s naval campaign, in which Zhu comes up with increasingly far fetched and unlikely clever tricks to beat an opponent that by rights should have defeated her easily. I realise it is Zhu’s trademark from She Who Became the Sun, but it really rubbed me the wrong way this time; it fits with the annoying Hollywood trope of medieval battles always being a mess without any sort of organisation, that end up being won through too-clever-by-half techniques that would not work in real life (think about it, if random balls of flaming whatever-it-is-Hollywood-special-effects-teams-love would have won battles in history, we would have sources telling us about them). I have always felt that it shows a lack of respect for the medieval mind to suppose that these people just failed to come up with these brilliant, battle-winning stratagems that writers behind their 21st century desks dream up.
That – very personal – rant aside, I really enjoyed He Who Drowned the World – I think I blasted through it in only four or five days (admittedly, I had a sowing project to get through). I think it’s grimdark tone means it may be less appealing to some than She Who Became the Sun. But I think the character writing is some of the best out there, and if you are not put off by a dark tale of mental, physical and sexual violence, He Who Drowned the World is a gripping read you won’t be able to put down.
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Review: Ex Machina – Alex Garland
When Caleb, a nobody programmer at a Big Tech firm is invited to the isolated home of the company’s CEO, he has no idea that he will serve as the examiner in a test of an advanced artificial intelligence developed by the CEO. Will Caleb believe that AI is capable of thoughts, feelings and consciousness even though he is aware it is artificial? As Caleb and the AI get to know each other, a bond forms that will set in motion a sequence of events going much further than the CEO had anticipated.
Review: A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness
Diana Bishop, a scholar at Oxford, accidentally discovers an ancient alchemical manuscript. Diana is a witch, but she wants nothing to do with the world of witches, vampires and daemons. That is, until 1500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont comes into the picture. When the two fall in love, it throws the entire world of magic into a frenzy.
Review: Ghost in the Shell – Rupert Sanders
Major Mira Kilian is a cyborg, a human ghost in an android shell, who hunts for terrorists as part of Section 9, a shady special ops force of the Japanese government. She remembers little of her past before her brain was transplanted, but when she goes after a cybercriminal who is hunting the very scientists who created her, Major is confronted with some uncomfortable questions on who she really is.
Review: I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
In I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, a collection of short stories, the famous robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin reflects on the history of robotics and how it changed the lives of humankind forever. What is the meaning of the Three Laws of Robotics and how do these laws work in practice? What can we learn from our interactions with robots? And what can they learn from us?
Review: Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
“Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir is a sci-fi/fantasy/horror novel set in a decaying universe ruled by necromancers. The story follows Gideon Nav, a sword-wielding cavalier, who is forced to join forces with her lifelong nemesis, the powerful necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Together, they are summoned to Canaan house, a derelict palace on a foreign planet to compete in a deadly trial. As they navigate dark secrets, mysterious deaths, and treacherous alliances, Gideon and Harrowhark must put aside their animosity and unravel the truth behind the ancient necromantic conspiracy that threatens to destroy the empire.
Review: He Who Drowned the World – Shelley Parker Chan
Part 2 in the Radiant Emperor – Zhu Chongba having become Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, and shown her desire to the world, she must now find a way to take Dadu, the Yuan capital, and take the title of Great Khan for herself. She is not the only one fighting for this position, however. General Ouyang, the eunuch general who betrayed the Great Yuan, is still out for the ultimate revenge. Madame Zhang is looking for a means to put her husband – whoever he might at that time be – on the throne. And Wang Baoxiang, the new Prince of Henan, has dark plans of his own. As the power struggle in court and on the battlefield reaches a fever pitch, the question becomes: will it be worth all the sacrifices made along the way?
