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Review: Master of the Revels – Nicole Galland

Review: Castle in the Air – Diana Wynne Jones

Review: Network Effect – Martha Wells

Review: The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

Review: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. – Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland

Review: Prospect – Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell

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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May 22, 2022

Review: Echo – Thomas Olde Heuvelt

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When a young mountaineer is mutilated by a terrible accident in the Swiss Alps, his boyfriend finds him changed upon his return to the Netherlands, and something appears hidden behind the mask of bandages that covers his face…

Visit Olde Heuvelt's website.

Key - ★★★

The first pages of Echo were thrilling. ‘There are people here,’ Olde Heuvelt writes simply. Shadows coming closer and closer and closer… I was immediately gripped. But after this prologue ended, Olde Heuvel tested my patience to its limits.

Just like Peter, I think Echo was my first dive into long-form horror. I have listened to some multi-season horror audio drama’s, but they mostly relied on short stories woven together by a longer thread – or they were just not that scary. But Echo started out very promising. Olde Heuvelt takes you on a ride of mysterious terrestrial power. I loved the parts about Nick’s climb of the Maudit, the ‘damned mountain’. It was obvious Olde Heuvelt is a climber himself and he knows what challenges climbers face, how it feels to get higher and higher and what drives climbers to always look for the next top.

Unfortunately, the storyline about Nick’s boyfriend Sam could not capture me in the same way. I think that was partly because Sam was a person very unlike myself, but also because he was not the one possessed by a mountain. Sure, he had his own trauma that came full circle in the end, but I never really believed his conflict as I did Nick’s. It felt a little forced somehow. Time after time he told me of his trauma, but I did not really feel it or see it in his actions. Moreover, I did not see how it had anything to do with the Maudit. How did Sam experience paranormal activity on the other side of the Atlantic, while I as reader had no reason to believe there were more paranormal forces active in this world than the Maudit?

Sam’s story was amusing, but not gripping, and that made me impatient for the next ‘good bit’. Therefore, I would say that the first 250 pages of the book could lose 100. The second half was more entertaining. I was no longer waiting for them to spell out what I had (more or less) figured out and they tried to do something about it! The story did not stall anymore from there.

In the end, I am glad I pushed through and I enjoyed the ride. Nick, I know you did not mean it and I love you. Sam, you’re all right.

Peter - ★★½

Echo made me realise something about my experience in horror so far: Almost all of the horror media I’ve gotten into was short, like a short story or a movie, or a novella at its longest. That makes sense, because horror is all about the suspense, about stretching the mystery of the unknown for as long as possible before a final reveal. The longer the stretch, the more brittle the suspense, and the bigger the payoff has to be at the end to make it all worth it.

Echo is not poorly written, but it is full-length (I listened to it, it would have been nearly 20 hours at 1x speed). That means that it alternates between short sections of true horror and a more thriller-like plot progression in which the main character try to figure out what is going on and what it means for their relationship. I felt the horror sections were well written, but in its full length, the book overstays its welcome. It may be in part due to the fact the I am not particularly susceptible to occult mystery, but I took the narrative as more of a challenge to figure out what was happening. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as if there was any logic to the occult forces at work and the reveals at the end weren’t as satisfying as I had hoped they would be.

I suspect there is probably a good 200-page novella hidden somewhere in this 500-page book, or even better, a movie script (which I feel Olde Heuvelt is already applying for a bit with his style). In a shorter form with a focus on the suspenseful moments, the plot could be quicker and more tense, there could be less repetition, and especially if it were adapted for the screen, the lack of logic underlying the horror could be smoothed over with some visual magic.

Overall, well written but probably too long. Not for me, but if you like horror, you might find you like it better than I did. If you haven’t read Olde Heuvelt’s HEX yet, I would recommend giving that a shot first — I read it too long ago for a proper review on the website, but it is about half as long as Echo, more cohesive, and filled to the brim with delightful Dutchness. That one is a definite recommendation.

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May 20, 2022

Review: Jupiter Ascending – the Wachowski Sisters

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In this grandiose Space Opera, a young woman who struggles to survive as a cleaner in modern-day America suddenly finds herself at the centre of a galactic conspiracy. Protected by two genetically engineered soldiers and her own down-to-earth wit, she must be the one to save humanity.

Watch the trailer.

Lotte - ★★★

I cannot even begin to conceive how it must have felt to buy a ticket to a Sci-Fi blockbuster and having this mess unfold in front of you.

This is THE most batshit insane Space Opera about a girl named Jupiter, who turns out to be the reincarnation of an important Galactic Queen or something. People want her dead and a generic Action hero comes to save her. Here’s my truly unfiltered thoughts:

There’s a fight scene that lasted so long I fully dissociated and woke up like 5 minutes in to realise it was still going. They could have used some of that time to have Jupiter actually bond with the wolf guy but what do I know.
- I don’t remember what I actually meant with “Wolf guy” when I wrote this. Wikipedia tells me that this character was “half-canine” so I suppose that explains it.

Obsessed with Eddie Redmayne’s performance. I’m not sure exactly what he’s trying to do but BOY is he doing it. Eddie’s really giving it his all. I often try to remind myself that as long as you do something with commitment, people won’t think you’re silly. Unfortunately for Eddie, this doesn’t seem to apply to this movie.

Mila Kunis and the Wolf guy have zero chemistry. They have this almost romance scene where she’s like “i like wrong guys” and he’s like “ur royalty, we mustn’t.” As if they’ve seen some kind of build up to where we can expect them to hook up, which we haven’t seen at all. Of course we KNOW they’re gonna hook up because she’s the protagonist of a Hollywood Blockbuster and he’s a gruff gunslinger, but there’s zero chemistry between them.

It’s definitely trying to be a whole bunch of stuff at the same time, and therefore succeeding at none of it. It’s trying to be a Dune-esque big scope Sci Fi movie, but Mila Kunis’s down to Earth (ha, ha get it? Cause she actually goes into space?? Nevermind) attitude and the presence of the “normal” human characters make Eddie Redmayne’s Space Royal thing look down right ridiculous. It takes a stab at being a comedy when they try to get Jupiter “registered”, but it’s so unexpected because you can’t really tell when the movie wants you to take it seriously and when you’re supposed to think it’s funny.

BAFFLED to find out this was written and directed by the Wachowskis!!!!! Girlies WHATT. I guess at least that explains how this movie got made.

Truly a good movie to watch if you’re ever worried about your own work being good enough. It doesn’t have to be good. Even stuff like this gets millions of dollars thrown at it. Make the thing.

3 stars for being entertaining in its badness.

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May 15, 2022

Review: Chappie – Neill Blomkamp

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The Johannesburg police force has incorporated nearly indestructible robots in its ranks to combat violent crime, though their sentience is limited. Just when a software developer is testing out his more advanced version of the AI program on a written off unit, he gets kidnapped by gangsters looking to hack the police robots for a planned heist. But what happens to a newly awoken sentient AI when he is raised by those same gangsters?

Watch the trailer.

Peter - ★★

That’s three Neill Blomkamp movies for three weeks now, and unfortunately, of the three, Chappie is my least favourite.

Chappie is similar to the other Blomkamp movies I’ve reviewed in that it has interesting ideas, but falls short in its execution. In Chappie, that is mostly the result of the tonal inconsistencies combined with a less-than stellar script.

Firstly, the tone – it is all over the place. The visuals are over the top, almost cartoonish. The gangster main protagonists are effectively the stage personas of Die Antwoord, a South African rap formation, with the characters even sharing the actors’ stage names. They are as… colourful (not to say: trashy) as their real world counterparts appear to be, based on a quick glance at the abuse allegations on their Wikipedia page. This is contrasted with what (I assume) are supposed to be heartfelt moments of love and betrayal. The juxtaposition is jarring. If Blomkamp is trying to ask serious questions on automated policing or say something about parent-child relationships or the better nature of down-on-their-luck-gangsters, it is drowned in mediocre jokes and the constant violence and abuse his characters subject each other to.

Secondly, the script is a bit meandering and full of holes, missed opportunities and unfired Chekov’s guns. At least Chappie avoids the mistake District 9 makes, and makes very clear from the start that it will be a violent movie. But as I was watching it with Key, we were already discussing easy ways the script could have been improved, characters copuld have been made more interesting, or the plot could have been resolved with easy shortcuts that the characters apparently missed. This made me constantly question how anything was supposed to work: the sci-fi technology in this movie functions strictly as the plot demands, even if that contravenes other things we’ve seen happen on screen. That is a pity in a movie that is ostensibly about artificial intelligence and features a plot driven by technology.

Finally, I’m a bit irked by the fact that this is Blomkamp’s second movie set in Johannesburg, and that Chappie and District 9 effectively have a grand total of three non-white characters between them; only Deon in Chappie has a significant role, and he is played by Dev Patel, a British actor of Indian descent. Where are all the black Africans in Blomkamp’s Johannesburg? Truth is, they’re probably either rioting in the streets or barbaric crime lords. Makes you wonder.

In conclusion, is Chappie unwatchable? Certainly not – perhaps this review is making the movie out to be worse than it is because there are so many points where I feel it could have been improved. It doesn’t look too bad and the eponymous robot is charming and a pleasure to watch. But I’m really struggling to find a group of people to recommend it to.

Key - ★★½

I don’t know if I can add much to Peter’s review. Spotting plot holes that jerk you out of your suspense of disbelief is fun afterwards, but if you see them during the movie, that does not sit well with me. Chappie (the AI) is charming and his development into a gangster with a moral compass is fun to watch, but his ‘education’ by gangsters also brings up moral questions that the movie never answers. And why are poor people in Blomkamp’s movies always taken straight out of Mad Max: Fury Road? I still don’t know if he wants us to see them in a sympathetic or unsympathetic light.

My greatest disappointment was the flatness or superfluity of characters that could easily have had real intrinsic motivations. CEO Michelle Bradley (a waste of Sigourney Weaver) was only there to say ‘no’ to Deon’s wish to test his conscious AI and ‘yes’ to Vincent Moore’s ‘release of the kraken’, things both characters would have done anyway. And Vincent Moore himself… he could have been so much more than just evil. In the beginning of the movie, he almost advocated that a machine needs a human controlling it to keep it grounded, moral even – a claim he himself would (dis)prove at the end of the movie. But no, he was just cruel, with jealousy as his only reason.

I will be a little kinder in my rating than Peter, because despite of its flaws, I did have fun watching Chappie. When I decided to let go my critical eye and not take the movie too seriously, it was a nice ride to a semi-emotional happy ending.

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May 10, 2022

Review: Station Eleven – HBO Max

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On the night a deadly flu pandemic hits the city of Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander suffers a heart attack and dies on-stage during a performance of King Lear. While the pandemic continues to spread, the people in Arthur’s life start to realise that the world as they know it is coming to an end.

Twenty years later Kirsten, one of the child actors who witnessed Arthur’s death, travels between settlements in the post-pandemic world together with a company of actors and musicians. As they try to keep something of the old world alive in their performances of Shakespeare’s plays, they will have to navigate the dangers of their new world.

Robin - ★★½

I really enjoyed the book Station Eleven and I was looking forward to the TV adaptation, but unfortunately it turned out to be kind of a let down for me. The show has a great cast and it started out promisingly, but pretty soon it took a turn for the worse as it started deviating from the book. I am not opposed in principle to adaptations deviating from their source material, at least not if it serves a purpose. In some cases this can be because a certain narrative technique or storyline just does not translate well across mediums and therefore has to be adapted, or in other cases it can be because the adaptation can add a new perspective to the story. For example, since Station Eleven was written before the COVID-19 pandemic and the TV-show was made during/after the outbreak, it would have been interesting to explore the effect that this has on how we as viewers experience the story.

However, for this TV-show I did not find that the deviations from the book added anything worthwile to the story. Instead, the additions seemed to make very little sense and disrupted my suspension of disbelieve enough to take me completely out of the story. The book has several different storylines and while some of these do come together in the end, not all of them do. Clearly, the writers of the show did not find this a satifying enough ending, and so they have changed these storylines in order to forcibly make them come together. It should not come as a suprise that the storylines have suffered in the process.

The show does have some things going for it. I liked how they handled Miranda’s character, and Arthur also seemed to gain some more depth which would have been interesting to explore further. However, in general I think the show would have been a lot better if they had stuck more closely to the book.

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May 8, 2022

Review: Apollyon – Observer Pictures

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In the early 22nd century, the Apollyon virus (AVS) has wiped out 75% of the world’s population. The remaining population is split between safe zones, where people are safe thanks to a daily medicine, and the ‘outer limits’. Still infections often lead to death and Theo Ramsay and her colleague and friend Gabriel Larson are close to creating a vaccine. Yet they have to ask themselves: what are they prepared to do to get the research a step further?

Visit the website.

Key - ★★★

This review relates to the first season.

I quite liked this audio drama. The sound design was good, although not very elaborate or varied. The acting was fine, although I felt a little uncomfortable when the characters laughed. The dialogue between the two main characters Theo and Gabriel was a joy to listen to. They really felt like longtime friends.

I do have mixed feelings about the writing. The dialogue was good and the story paid a lot of attention to the details of a scientific process. It is refreshing to see the difficulty of research and the slowness of discovery represented instead of one dramatised eureka-moment. However, you can also go to far… I do not need to hear all questions at the end of a research presentation or the complete explanation of how you make sure a group of subjects is statistically representative.

My main issue with this audio drama however is the streamlining of the story. Especially in the beginning, it let me wonder what exactly this story was about. Was this a hero’s journey about scientific discovery, a (family) drama in the middle of a pandemic or a mystery about a secret plot? I think mostly the latter, but I am not sure.

I am not sure if this ‘meandering’ is a strong or a weak point, but I tend to lean to the latter. On the one hand, this approach will resonate more with more ambiance-oriented listeners rather than plot-oriented ones (me). Furthermore, it broadens the world in which the story takes place. On the other hand, if it had wanted to do that, it could have shown more of the social and political implications of the new world order the pandemic had brought – in true sci-fi fashion (see this discussion). Instead, the story could have played out like this in, say, 2020 as well as in 2120.

As a result, I felt a little impatient with the plot. In episode 4 we finally see a glimpse of the ‘true’ conflict, in order to have to wait for episode 6 for a bit more, and have every necessary info dumped on us in ‘flashback episode’ 9 to get up to speed for the finale.

The lack of a broader societal scope and the choice to focus on the development of a vaccine instead made this audio drama have less of an impact on me. I don’t know if this story was already in production when our own pandemic hit, but some things felt a little outdated. Like, you don’t have to explain the importance of a vaccine in a pandemic anymore. And we know a bit of how a virus spreads and destroys families, even when only a few percent of the population dies. Which made me think, the great secret that was revealed at the end, why were they so secretive about it? Could they not just have been honest with the world and no one would have bat an eye? Or even helped?

However, I do not want to sound too negative. In the end, all of this is nitpicking in a story that was good. It just could – in my eyes – have been great. I am curious to see what season 2 will bring. I certainly hope we will explore the world of the ‘outer limits’ further. Maybe all of the meandering will in hindsight have been ‘built-up’ for a complex web of moral dilemma’s that totally pays off!

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May 5, 2022

How to play Convention Bingo

LOTTE

Check out our reviews of the media mentioned in this post here:

Review: The Wheel of Time – Amazon Prime Video

Two weeks ago, we went to Elfia, Europe’s biggest costume event. It’s a bit of a mix between a Renaissance faire and a convention. There’s cosplayers, people in medieval or otherwise historical dress, dogs in costume… A little bit of everything, really.

We go to Elfia every year, and every year, we play “Elfia Bingo”. Here’s how it goes:

Creating the Bingo Cards

Everyone gets a Bingo card that they can fill in themselves. It’s easiest to go with a 3×3 bingo card and nothing bigger. I’m not sure I’ve ever crossed off every item on my card. Honestly? Convention Bingo is hard to win.

So everyone chooses 9 things they want to see at the convention. This can be pretty much everything. You can choose a specific character or a whole show/series you want to see a cosplay of. This will depend on how popular a show is and thus how likely you think you are to actually see someone cosplay this thing. For instance: 5 or so years ago, I had “Critical Role” on my bingo card. The show had only been running for a while, and I didn’t manage to spot a SINGLE cosplayer of the series. This year, I put Fearne from Critical Role campaign 3 on my card. Even this was perhaps too easy, as I spotted upwards of 5 Fearnes that day. Oh, how times change.

It’s likely that some of the things you want to see at the con may be easier than others. To counter this, you can put some more difficult ones on your card. A character from an older video games series, or from something that’s just come out can serve to balance out the 30 Jesters from Critical Role that you’ve put on your card.

Make no mistake, though! You may actually end up surprised at which characters you cross off the card and which ones you don’t end up seeing! This year, Robin had Moraine from Wheel of Time on her bingo card, which I was sure she would be able to cross off within seconds of entering the faire grounds. Unfortunately for her, no Moraines were spotted that day.

While specific characters and franchises are an obvious choice for bingo card items, it can also be fun to include situations or concept to your card.

Think of:

a cosplay that is so huge that the person inside has trouble navigating the con;
a beautiful dress with a train that is torn and filthy from people stepping on it constantly;
Someone fixing their broken cosplay;
Two people in the same cosplay talking to each other;
A costume that’s legitimately terrifying (for several years, there was a guy with what looked and sounded like a real chainsaw running around. Trust me when I tell you no one felt comfortable walking near that guy);
A genderbent cosplay;
A sexy cosplay of an unsexy character;
A child wearing an insanely good cosplay;
A dog in a costume
Two friends together at the con, wearing costumes that are basically polar opposites;
etc.

The Game

It’s important to bring paper and some kind of writing utensil to the con. We often make our bingo cards in the train or car on the way there. The game starts as soon as you enter the convention grounds. Anything you see before your ticket has been scanned does not count.

How competitively you play the game will depend on you. I find it really depends on what people have on their cards. If someone is genuinely excited about spotting a specific character, I will be the first to point that character out to them if I see it. We’re all just here for fun after all, and seeing that character makes that friend happy.

However, if a friend has something on their card that’s a little more generic and they’re not as excited about (take for instance Else from Frozen 2), it’s a different story. If that’s the case, and I see Elsa, my response might be a little different. “Ohhh you didn’t see that Elsa cosplayer?? Gosh what a shame, 🙁 I’ve seen like 3 by now.”

You’ll want to balance it out. You’re not here to ruin your friend’s day! But you are here to win.

If ever you’re not quite sure if someone is cosplaying the character you think they are (”…is that Grog from Critical Role or the guy from God of War??”) you have to go up to them to ask before you can cross it off. Be sure to explain the game to them while you’re at it! If only so they understand why you look so smug when they talk about their costume, and what exactly it is you’re maniacally crossing off a little piece of paper.

I’ve said before that the game is hard to win. But what if you do win? We’ve personally never given a prize to the winner of Elfia bingo. You could, but it’s slightly against the spirit of the game. It can be disappointing enough not to see your favourite characters cosplayed at a con. Without prizes, your only victory is seeing people cosplay the characters you love, and I think that’s just real neat.

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