Poldark (2015)
Poldark (2015) is based on a series of novels by Winston Graham. There was also another tv series made in 1975.
The first episode starts out with a man – Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) – coming back to his home in Cornwall from the American Revolutionary War. Defeated and wounded, he expects a different welcome than the one he gets. He finds his father dead, his home in the hands of lazy, neglectful servants and – worst of all – his beloved fiancee about to be married to his cousin. No one except his other cousin Verity, an old maid at 25, who is being used as an unpaid housekeeper by her family, is happy to see him. Believing him dead, his uncle and cousin had expected not only to have the fiancee but also Ross’ father’s mine and land. After repeated efforts by the uncle to buy him out Ross decides to stay on, mostly to support his tenant farmers, who are struggling to make ends meet. He tries to start up the mine again, in a time when the competition from the Welsh mines are keenly felt. To do that he needs capital, which means he needs to convince others to invest in his venture. Cornwall is going through a difficult time. Fishing is failing as well as the mines and people are risking starvation. Even the ‘wealthy’ classes aren’t doing as well as in the past.
To me, Ross Poldark is very much the star of the show. He’s dark, handsome and brooding and exactly the sort of man I like to see in a tv series. None of the other characters come across as real or as developed as he is. Out of the others, his cousin Verity is the only one you really seem to get to know, at least to begin with. After a while, Ross finds and rescues a young girl (dressed as a boy) and takes her in. For several episodes, Ross is still obsessed with his former fiancee and doesn’t have much time for his new young housekeeper, but eventually they begin to get to know each other and Demelza (Cornish name?) learns new skills and turns out to be very intelligent and prepared to take on new responsibilities.
At times it seems Ross’ own family are his worst enemies, but the Warleggans (moneylenders who have done well for themselves and managed to join the gentry) work against him for reasons not quite clear. I get a vague feeling there’s been some enmity between Ross and the younger Warleggan in the past, but you don’t find out much about that in the series, at least not so far.
I have just finished watching the first season and I’m glad to see that there will be a second one. If I will ever write fan fiction again, this is one of the series that has definitely inspired me to several different (mainly angsty, but also slashy) ideas. Naturally, that’s because of Aidan Turner. He’s one of the few actors these days that can totally captivate, beguile and bewitch me and for that I’m grateful.
The Librarians (2014)
The series can be described as a combination of Indiana Jones (or rather The Young Indiana Jones), MacGyver and Doctor Who/Torchwood. It’s fun and filled with action. The underlying idea is fascinating – a magical library that is more or less infiitely big, that you can reach from more than one place (The Annex), but also a portal that opens just about anywhere so the Librarian can get where the magical action is.
The first episode starts with a woman, Eve Baird, working for an antiterrorist unit who runs into a mysterious excentrically dressed man who is expert in disarming traps (but not the usual kind of bomb trap). She is puzzled but impressed. Soon she receives a mysterious invitation to begin work at the Metropolitan library and finds out about the huge underground library. However, the Librarian (at that time there’s only one) isn’t at all happy to see her. He claims to be able to get by very well without a Guardian (that is the Librarian’s body guard). Circumstances move fast though and Eve (the Guardian) and Flynn (the Librarian) are pulled into a complicated case, fighting a group of ninja warriors. It seems someone is killing off Librarian candidates. Although traditionally there’s only ever been one Librarian and one Guiardian it seems now there’s need for more.
From the second episode there are three Librarians-in-training, protected by the Guardian and a mysterious older man, Jenkins, who seems to be living in the Annex (a sort of add-on to the Library), doing research and keeping an eye on the team of amateurish future Librarians. There’s young amoral thief Exekiel Jones, Cassandra Cillian who is a genius rather like Sherlock, but unfortunately she owes her genius to a tumor in her brain and finally a sort of cowboy who is a genius too – and extremely well educated in archaeology, history and languages.
Like I said, this is a fun, action filled series, with all kinds of supernatural and magical enemies, but I can’t help wishing there was more depth. If they’d only taken the time to write more ‘serious’ and deep episodes I would have been happier. It feels a little llike a YA series with rather hurried plots. Some episodes are downright annoying like the one about Santa, who insists on referring ot himself in the third person. Others, are far more interesting, like one about a town where fairy tales come to life, with dangerous consequences.
So far I’ve seen one season, but apparently there will be another, so at least that’s good. I don’t think I’ll be writing any fan fiction based on this series, but it’s definitely good enough to distract you from your life for a while.
The Boy in the Dress, UK 2014
I was able to watch this movie for free online, on Swedish tv:s Play service, which was cool. On IMDB there was a review that gave this really nice movie just one star out of ten (making a negative comparison with the book it’s apparently based on), which I think is unfair. Of course, I haven’t read the book, and actually I’d like to do that, but since I haven’t, I enjoyed the movie.
It’s about a boy, Dennis, living in the UK. His life is boring and depressing. His mother has left the family, that also consists of Dennis’ father and older brother. Dennis only fun in life is football (and his best friend and team mate, Darvesh). And Dennis really is good. He’s the star of his football team. However, his dad has fallen into a deep depression and misses his former wife so badly, he isn’t really there for his sons. There are many sad little details to illustrate this state of affairs. For instance, Dennis’ dad has burned all the photos of his former wife, except for one that Dennis is able to hide away, only slightly singed. Dad no longer comes along to watch the football games, but Darvesh (best friend) and his mum are always there so at least Dennis has that.
One day when he goes to Raj’s news agent’s shop, he catches sight of Vogue and is obsessed. He instantly loves all the glamour, which is both funny and touching in a little boy who is so very ‘boyish’ in every way.
Everyone in school, admires a girl named Lisa, who is a bit of a rebel, loves fashion and dreams of being a fashion designer. One day she discovers that Dennis too is reading Vogue and they become friends. She soon finds out that Dennis loves her dresses and makes him try one on, then later makes him one of his own. To try it out, she dares him to walk to the news agents’ where miraculously Dennis isn’t recognized. Lisa introduces him as her new exchange student friend, Denise, from France.
Later, when Dennis is feeling very depressed, he wants to try his disguise in school, and though Lisa seems a bit hesitant, they soon stage the deception. They’re even able to get past the school secretary who is watching over the students’ school uniform and every single little differences is noted and punished.
At first the experience is everything Dennis was hoping it would be, but after a while complications ensue.
I won’t go into what happens next, but despite the complications and trouble eventually, the movie ends quite happily. Like I mentioned above, it’s a very nice, feelgood movie, with funny characters, great acrors and a very interesting story too.
Wadjda, arabic movie from 2012
Recently I watched the Arabic movie Wadjda (also known as The Green Bicycle). Ever since I first read about the movie the first time I’ve been wanting to see it and the other night I had my chance (though it ate up quite a bit of bandwidth). It’s really something out of the ordinary for me to get to see such an ‘exotic’ movie (or rather, one from such an unusual country and in such an unusual language). I have to admit I didn’t know all that much about the Saudi Arabia, except for the oil and the way women are treated. The latter was confirmed throughout the movie. You could say it’s a returning theme. Oppression of women.
Wadjda who is ten, wants a bicycle, because her best friend Abdullah, who is a boy of the same age, has one and her greatest wish is to race him and win. She’s actually not all that nice to Abdullah and answers him rather sharply. He, on the other hand, is prepared to do anything for her. A very sweet little boy.
Wadjda’s father doesn’t live with her and her mom and after a while you begin to understand why. The mother does everything she can to keep him in a good mood, and rigidly follows every rule women need to follow. She’s torn between her husband and and the opportunity to live a more modern life, with the help of a friend who works in a modern, almost Western hospital. The friend is prepared to help her get a job there, but at the last moment, the mother backs out. Unfortunately, it does her no good.
Wadjda is a bit of a rebel, even apart from the bicycle dream, which fits well into her personality in general. She’s listening to Western music, she’s wearing a pair of trainers under her long black dress. Other girls run when men are nearby, but Wadjda doesn’t even bother to cover herself better with her veil. One day she even arrives in school with her veil off and is ordered to cover up more completely. She doesn’t really care about studying, and doesn’t even read all that well, until the day she realizes she can win a lot of money by entering the Quran contest, arranged by the Religion Club. It appears the Quran is much more complicated than I imagined. The contest is only one way Wadjda is trying to make money to buy her beloved bicycle. In Saudi Arabia (and possibly in other Muslim countries) is that girls and women shouldn’t ride bikes, for many reasons. They even believe it can ruin their ability to bear children in the future.
The movie is full of scenes that really hits you hard, like when you realize why Wadjda’s dad isn’t living with them anymore, or when Wadjda studies her father’s family tree with a great deal of interest. It lacks all the female names. She tries to remedy that, but soon discovers that her father has crumpled her handwritten note and thrown it away. You get the impression it’s only then that she realizes what a situation she and the other girls are living in. She ought to have seen that before, but Wadjda is a rather self-absorbed girl. Her very Quran learned classmate, Salma, is married off at ten, but apparently she’s allowed to still go to school. An older girl, that Wadjda helped connect with her older brother (to obtain a permit to see a boy) is arrested by the Vice Squad, is expelled from school and married off. Two other older girls are publicly shamed for being ‘sinful’. I didn’t understand exactly what they were supposed to have done, except for reading magazines, but it was hinted that they were in love.
Veronica Mars – the movie
I just watched Veronica Mars – the movie. It’s taken me a while to finally get round to it, but I’m glad I did. At first I thought ‘this is just for the devoted fans’ (like me), but after a while I started thinking that this is actually better than season 3. I laughed out loud several times. There’s something about the lines that really appeal to me.
What I didn’t like was the way Mac and Wallace had been relegated to being minor characters. After all, since Duncan disappeared, it’s really only been Veronica and her dad and Logan who were depicted as major characters, at least that’s the way it seemed to me. I would have liked to see more of Mac, especially. (And – were Mac and Wallace a couple? I couldn’t really tell.)
All in all, this was a fun movie to watch and I can really recommend it to anyone who liked the series or thinks they might like it. If so, I’d recommend you watch the series first.
Now I’m hoping for more. Another movie, another season of the series… On IMDB, it says Veronica would have been working for the FBI in the canceled season 4. That sounds like a great start to a new season. Oh, well, one can always dream.
A storybook adventure…
Giggleswick: The Amadán Map by Matthew Mainster
It’s a natural phenomenon — a small country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean hidden from the rest of the world by a circle of unnavigable fog. It’s called Giggleswick, and twelve-year old Elliot Bisby has never heard of it, that is until he and his family are approached by an unusual man and asked to move there.
I found this story funny and quite light-hearted, just the way I like (some) books. It’s also well written and is based on a very interesting idea. What if there could actually be a secret, ‘magical’ country hidden away somewhere in the world? Like Dinotopia…
I liked the characters. Most of them were very nice and sweet, except for the villains, of course. The only thing I didn’t really like, was what seemed to me to be a dated way of looking at women. The female lead character, a twelve-year-old girl, is depicted ok. She seems equal to the male lead character, Elliot Bisby. On the other hand, Elliot’s mom has very little life outside the house. All she seems to be good for is being pretty and kind and a good housekeeper. Maybe I’m being unfair. I suppose it’s easy to just assume that moms are great and so on, and not give them any real personality, unless you actively try to give every character some individuality.
All in all, this is an enjoyable read for anyone maybe nine and up, or for anyone who’s young at heart.
Maria Lang – Crimes of Passion
A while back I posted a review of Josephine Tey’s novels. It occurred to me that Swedish mystery author Maria Lang (Dagmar Lange), is in some ways similar to this author. Unfortunately, I can’t offer you a page with freebies, but there are two e-book titles available in English, on Amazon.co.uk and on Amazon.com.
I have read a few of her books (in Swedish) and so far I can’t say I have noticed anything political in her writing. What I do see is quite a bit of passion. Her characters are all filled with passion and jealousy. Most, if not all, seem to be motivated by love and sex.
The main characters are Puck (a young woman) who’s a scholar in literature. At the beginning of the series, she meets an attractive young man who is also a scholar, Einar Bure. He has a very good friend, Christer Wijk, who is a cop.
I love this mystery-solving trio. They work so well together. And having a background in fan fiction and slash, I can’t help thinking I could write some really cool fan fiction about them, preferably with a bit of slash. 😉 Something tells me the author might understand the slash, if not the concept of fan fiction – although I know there was fan fiction written early on, based on Jane Austen’s books and the Sherlock Holmes books. Apparently, Maria Lang’s mystery writing colleague Dorothy Sayers was a member of the Sherlock Holmes fandom.
From that first case, the three keep working together solving crimes. The mysteries are quite cosy, but like I said, they were at the time (1940’s and on) considered rather ‘erotic’. Don’t get your hopes up though, what was considered erotic in the 1940’s and 50’s is not what we would call the same thing. They’re a lot of fun to read for someone like me, who is interested in history. The cover art is beautiful and evokes the look of the era, if I may say so. I have seen one of the movies – looking forward to seeing the rest soon – that have recently been made from the first six books (that were recently re-published). It’s really fascinating to see all the details – architecture, cars, fashion, furniture etc. The books are never too graphic or depressing. It’s all just good old-fashioned puzzle mystery fun. Maria Lang also caused a bit of a stir, when one of her characters was gay, long before that became common in literature.
On one of my blogs I’ve already mentioned this, but once when my mum was very young and a student, she used to go to the opera all the time, escorted by an older, married male classmate. They went to all the shows and after a while they began to notice that this author was ‘stalking’ them, taking notes, always looking away, ignoring them if they caught her staring. In the end, my mum and her classmate, who, for the record, weren’t involved, ended up as a young married couple in one of the books.
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
“When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out.
Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family – before it’s too late.”
This book was a little creepy, as the author herself puts it, but it never gets too scary for the age group it’s intended for (that I imagine might be about 9-12 and of course, all the rest of us who are young at heart). Despite all the weird details you learn about Triss, you find yourself being sympathetic to her. She is in a very frightening situation and as she uncovers more and more about the secret of what’s happened to her, things go from bad to worse. Fortunately, she manages to find a few (to begin with) reluctant allies along the way.
Frances Hardinge turns out to be quite a versatile author. She showed up just in time, for me to discover her books, when Diana Wynne Jones passed away. Not that I’ve stopped loving her books and will continue to read them, but sadly now there won’t be any more from her. Hardinge’s books remind me a bit of Diana Wynne Jones’ books. I’ve been quite surprised at how varied Hardinge’s stories are, especially when it comes to the setting. They’re all quite ‘serious’ and dark, but not too much so. Fortunately there’s always a happy ending, at least to some extent.
If I’m going to mention something that didn’t quite work out, it’s the fact that the atmosphere in the story didn’t ‘feel’ like the 1920’s – at first I couldn’t guess what time the story was set in – anytime before the 1970’s? I also have a bit of a question – did the newspapers really publish photos of missing people back then? It seems a bit too modern, but then I’m hardly an expert.
This book, that I initially thought might be a bit too dark to be a real favorite for me, actually turned out to be among my very favorites, among Hardinge’s books. In fact, I love them all, though I found the last book I read (Face of Glass) a little too bleak and depressing. As for Cuckoo Song, I can recommend it to anyone who likes low fantasy YA books. I rate it 4 out of 5.
The Third Uncle by Stephen Beifuss
A while back, I finished reading The Third Uncle by Stephen Beifuss, on Wattpad.
“Francesca is a headstrong teen from small town Italy who has been sent to summer with her uncles in Napoleon’s Paris. Francesca is bored. Her uncles are tiresome, not very bright, and determined to keep her out of trouble. Fortunately for her, adventure is around the corner, and she soon discovers her uncles are working against the French, and with the help of an enchanted mirror, two cats, a young thief, a dead saint and a Queen determined to remove Napoleon from his throne, a dull summer becomes anything but!”
This story was a nice surprise compared to what I usually find on Wattpad. Sure, I’ve found a few stories I’ve loved, but I’ve also found a lot that felt – not quite ready for publication – if you know what I mean.
The Third Uncle is what I’d call ‘alternate history’ fantasy. In this world, Napoleon defeated the English and occupied, not only the European Continent but also the UK. It also seems to be a bit steampunk. People are travelling on airships. There’s also a bit of magic. There’s time travel, or at least time travel is of interest in the story.
I don’t have any particular favorites among the characters, except perhaps the ‘young thief’, who turns out to be a charming young man, with a dark past, but they’re all interesting and/or funny. The uncles are a lot of fun, the cats are adorable, and in some ways, very useful to a certain mode of travel.
I’m looking forward to seeing this book published as a ‘real’ book. The author lives in Spain (slightly confusingly, since his name either evokes English or American origins or possibly a German one. However, in the story, he seems to be quite knowledgeable, not only in English, but also in French and Italian. Oh, well. This is a funny, fascinating, magical story, that takes a twisting turn around Europe, then finally ends mostly happily (I hope that’s not too much of a spoiler?):
The Mosque Hill Fortune (The Sons of Masguard, Book One) by Vivienne Mathews
I just read this really great fantasy book, The Mosque Hill Fortune, by Vivienne Mathews on Wattpad.
A haunting mist sits on the harbor beneath Secora Tor….
Heroic Captain Marshall is called upon to save his country from the sinister mist and the even more sinister creatures it’s hiding. With the help of his faithful crew and a ragtag band of pirates he sets out to fight evil, forging an uneasy truce along the way.
Exciting swashbuckling adventure set in a fantasy world. Even though you sometimes forget about it, all the characters are animals. Since I love animals, adventure and fantasy, this was a very pleasant surprise. The only problem is that I’m really sensitive and tend to cry a lot when anyone gets hurt, especially an animal. Despite that, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who like me, likes animals and fantasy. The book is well-written, fascinating and filled with endearing characters that you can’t help but love.
Another nice surprise was that Book 2 in the series, Guardian’s Rise is also available for free.
You can find out more about the author and her books on her author webpage, on Wattpad and on Smashwords.
