Fantasybookspot - Other Series

Storms of Vengeance

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:04:12 -0400

Storms of Vengeance is the debut novel of John Beachem. It is the first book in his fantasy series, “The Lorradda Stone.”

The story is set in the Kingdom of Faranin, a state comprising many formerly independent nations brought together by centuries of war, now enjoying an uneasy peace for the first time in generations. Magic is forbidden, and those tainted with magical power, the Marked, are hunted and destroyed without mercy.

Faranin’s short-lived tranquility is shattered by a daring late-night raid on the capital city. A band of mysterious attackers, aided by magic, penetrate the vast complex of the royal palace and manage to get out alive. In the aftermath, a prominent legislator is found murdered in his chambers. He had many enemies who would have liked to see him out of the way, but what seems at first like a political killing is soon realized to be more. Witnesses reveal that while the assassination was taking place, some of the raiders were busy searching a completely different part of the palace. The speed and efficiency with which the mysterious raiders struck makes it clear that they knew exactly where to find their victim. So what else were they up to?

Into this mystery are thrust two young palace guards. Calton Relanas is a young man of peasant origins, eager to prove himself. His friend, Ratel Eresgot, is the scion of a wealthy aristocratic family who desperately wants to show that he can succeed without his powerful father. Assigned to assist with the investigation, they find themselves faced with a deadly conspiracy with tendrils reaching into the palace itself, and an evil with designs on far more than the life of a single politician.

I found Storms of Vengeance to be a frustrating book, because it keeps showing flashes of potential to be better than it was. After a successful attention-grabbing opening, things slow down badly, meandering dully for a number of chapters, punctuated by attempts at greater excitement that came across as forced. Then, about a third of the way through, things start to pick up, and I was fairly interested by the end. There’s some good stuff here, but it’s a bit of a slog to get to.

The characters are a mixed bag. The main protagonists, Calton and Ratel, were not effective for me, and seemed neither emotionally engaging nor otherwise interesting. Unfortunately, the reader spends a great deal of time with them. On the other hand, some of the antagonists are a good deal more interesting, though again there is a pacing problem: the reader must wade through some rather unsatisfying parts before these characters start to become more intriguing. I also liked the character of Faren, the commander of the palace guard who leads the investigation of the attack. Beachem does a nice job of taking a very boring, stick-in-the-mud sort of person and making him an interesting and sympathetic character. The brief appearances by the King of Faranin were also effective, defying the common clichés for fictional monarchs- heroic guardian of the people, ruthless tyrant and oppressor, or ineffectual buffoon. Instead, he comes across as a well-intentioned man who is just unbearably tired, ground down by a lifetime of crushing responsibility.

The setting is more or less a typical medieval fantasy kingdom; for the most part it is serviceable but not remarkable. It does have one prominent virtue, however. I greatly enjoyed the book’s portrayal of elves- or “forest demons,” as most people in Faranin call them. In an enjoyable break with the common fantasy clichés that have turned elves into little more than pretty long-lived humans with a fondness for trees and shrubbery, Beachem’s elves truly seem uncanny and inhuman, frightening and inscrutable creatures of folklore.

Overall, I would describe Storms of Vengeance as a disappointment. Beachem shows a number of flashes of potential, but the reader must put up with a good deal of much less interesting material to get to them. I think his work shows future promise, and I’m curious to see how Beachem develops, but overall I can’t recommend Storms of Vengeance.

The Immortal Prince

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:55:58 -0400

Australia is referred to as a ‘New World' country with respect to its wine production. This distinction is made with the traditional European nations being referred to as ‘Old World'. Jacobs Creek, one of Australia’s leading wineries, defines ‘New World’ wines as “innovative, easy to understand, accessible and generous in flavor”. There is far less pretention to be found in New World wines than the traditional versions, and as such, Australian wines have gained a world-wide reputation for originality and value for money. In many ways, a strong parallel can be drawn to the large number of Australian fantasy authors currently producing high quality and innovative works. Many of these writers are not well known outside of their home country, but they are gradually gaining exposure in the mainstream marketplaces of the USA and England. One of the most talented of these Australian authors is Jennifer Fallon.

Fallon is an interesting character in her own right, being the ninth child in a family of 13 girls. She lives in the Northern Territory, which contains some of the most isolated and remote places in the world. Fallon has three children of her own, but has also fostered over 50 other youngsters in need. Her writing commenced, as with all good authors, through submitting a Mills and Boon manuscript. Thankfully for the world of literature, this book was rejected and Fallon has gone onto a successful career in fantasy. Fallon’s first novel was 'Medalon', the opening novel in the six piece “Hythrun Chronicles”. She then wrote the “Wolfblade Trilogy”, with both series being very well received in Australia and overseas. Fallon’s latest work is “The Tide Lords”, which commences with 'The Immortal Prince'.

Fallon introduces the reader to a new world in 'The Immortal Prince', with the story commencing in the duchy of Glaebe. The main character of the book, Arkady Desean, is in a position of security being married to Stellan, the Duke of Glaeba. She has, however, a life and experiences prior to her marriage that are not traditionally expected of someone marrying into high society. Her childhood originated in near poverty, and then progressed to history studies at a doctoral level. And it is as an academic that Arkady is brought in to interview a convicted criminal called Cayal who, mysteriously, failed to die whilst being hanged. From this point, the story unfolds.

The author manages to successfully sketch out the background and history of this new country, but at the same time, does so without falling into the trap of inundating the reader with massive passages of descriptive text. Fallon uses the interviews between Arkady and Cayal as a mechanism for revealing the details of the world. As a literary device, it works very well. New characters such as the Royal Spymaster Declan Hawkes, and the Crasii, a mix of half-human half animal slaves, are also introduced and add significantly to the flow of the story.

The underlying magical premise is quite innovative, being based around the concept of a group of Immortals who possess near god-like powers. This magical skill is contingent upon ‘the Tide’, a force that ebbs and flows over thousands of years. When the Tide is out, the Immortals are largely powerless. However, when the Tide returns, the Immortals have the ability to literally destroy or re-make the world. At the start of the book the Tide is out, however, it soon becomes clear that change is underway.

One of the strengths of 'The Immortal Prince', and yet also its weakness, is the prose. Fallon demonstrates her great skill in writing interesting and well developed characters, however, at times the story almost got lost in overly decorative language. Some readers will delight in this aspect of the book, but I must admit that at times I found it a little grating. It is only a minor criticism, but I almost felt that the plot took second place to the prose in certain sections of the book. It is not a significant fault in any way, and some readers will particularly enjoy her style. It must also be said that Arkady is occasionally quite irritating as the main personality, but Cayal and the rest of the cast are consistently well portrayed. As a means of comparison, Fallon's writing is far closer to that of a Robin Hobb or perhaps Greg Keyes than someone like Steven Erikson.

Whilst much of the story is reasonably predictable, Fallon does manage to maintain the intrigue right to the end of the book. There are a number of twists in the plot that are unexpected, and underline her skill as a storyteller of the highest quality. These surprises are logical and consistent within the larger plot, but were still not easily foreseen. Fallon also manages to finish the book off at a suitable point. Whilst it is clearly set up for the remainder of the series, it still ends without leaving the reader completely up in the air. I intensely dislike books that are not complete in their own right, and Fallon has successfully managed to avoid this error.

There are few authors that I automatically buy their latest offerings without even perusing the back cover. Fallon has become one of this group. Her books are consistently well written, with great plots and exceptionally well developed characters. Fallon is not just a very good Australian fantasy writer, she is simply a very good fantasy writer. 'The Immortal Prince' is highly recommended to all fans of the genre. Book Two of the Tide Lords, 'Gods of Amyrantha', and Book Three, 'The Palace of Impossible Dreams', are also now available.

Jhegaala

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:34:28 -0400

Steven Brust brings us another tale of our hero Vlad Talos as he goes to the East to learn about his family in the town of Burz. Being the outgoing chap that he is, Vlad starts asking about the family Merss (his mother’s side of the family) in this industrial town that makes paper, and then all hell breaks loose in this three-sided conflict.

Jhegaala is the most recently published book in the Vlad saga, but it is not the most chronologically recent. Brust has us jumping around at different points in Vlad’s life when he tells a story, and Jhegaala is no exception. In many other series knowing the outcome for certain characters in a fantasy action adventure can be an issue for me. The little things that fall into place from a comment made by Vlad in another book are satisfying rather than frustration and this is due to Brust’s writing talent.

The setting of this Vlad Talos story is a bit of a different than what we would expect. Vlad is going back East, so we do not have any Dragaerans and Vlad does not have his people working for him, he is stranger among his own kind. The East though, while different, has its own sort of charm, with the town feeling like some sort of logging town in America’s past. Granted we did not have any Counts watching over the logging towns, but the industrial feel is still there. It is nice to see Brust put Vlad somewhere unfamiliar to him where out of his normal surroundings we can come to understand more about the character of Vlad and his personality. We also have a very interesting cast of characters in this mystery, a bit different then our hero is used to, and he will need more then sorcery and sword to survive.

“Guilds and Covens, Covens and Guilds. Yeah, it’s a good thing he took the time to explain those to me.”

Being the eleventh book in the series the major characters are a known commodity. Vlad, Loiosh and Rocza, with a little Noish-pa thrown in there, are the ones we will follow in this journey from the list of acquaintances in Vlad’s circle. Vlad’s split from Cawti is fresh and the Jhereg organization is out to eliminate him, and Vlad has troubles - troubles that I want to see solved, stories that I want to hear. This is what makes a Vlad book worth picking up.

Brust is one of my favorite authors among the many fantasy writers because of his ability to let you feel like you really know the character as some sort of fantasy extended family. Vlad feels like a real person, with real faults, dreams, and turmoil, and this allows you to empathize with him when he is down on his luck, as well as share in his triumphs when he succeeds. Brust is good in making you feel he is talking directly to you, engrossing you in the tale.

Jhegaala is a fantasy book at heart, but the crux of Vlad’s problems stem from a mystery, so I think it can be safe to call it a light cross-genre. Cross-genre books can be a blessing or a curse: can you make everyone happy or do you just exile readers of each genre? There are many book readers that would consider themselves cross –genre readers at heart, but I never considered myself one until recently. The mystery part was intriguing enough to spice up this Vlad story and I find it very unlikely that Brust alienated anyone with this tight storyline, and his creativity really shines through in the mystery that Vlad is caught up in. While the level of swordplay and sorcery is lower I felt the mystery portion of the story is stronger because of it. We learn more of Vlad, and when you have such a long running series, it is welcome to get a further understanding of the character you have been following for so long.

Having Loiosh, Vlad’s familiar, is always nice for Vlad from the partnership standpoint, but even more so in a story that is not driven by the sword. Loiosh allows Brust to give Vlad the ability to bounce ideas off a character other then himself, as well as hold back things from the reader as Vlad holds back things from Loiosh. This is nice ace in the hole to have in a cross-genre book that focuses on a mystery as the main plot. Loiosh also allows Brust to use a bit of humor in his books as readers of the series know from previous novels, but in a way that fits the story. Rocza, Loiosh’s mate, as always is more of a plot device, and allows Brust to move the story along rather than a true character in my opinion.

Jhegaala is a book that makes the Vlad Talos series stronger, and while each one of the Brust books can be read individually I suggest that this one be part of your series reading. We get to see a different side of Vlad, a different story type (cross genre) from Brust, and it makes one nice package.

I really enjoyed the mystery portion and I think the fantasy community needs to embrace this a bit more, authors and readers alike. One of the things that takes away from this book is something I alluded to earlier, the fact that I know Vlad is going to be okay in the end. Readers of the series already know what happens to Vlad after he leaves the East. It is a back-story type novel, and while I would not consider it the best stand alone Vlad story, I think when taking the book as a piece of the whole is where this book excels.

The Steven Brust Jhegaala novel is a worthy addition to the Vlad Talos series.

Majestrum

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:32:27 -0400

The back jacket copy describes Majestrum by Matthew Hughes, as “Sherlock Holmes meets Jack Vance’s Dying Earth…” H-m-m-m-m. Let’s take a look. This first person narrative chronicles the latest adventures of Henghis Hapthorn, freelance discriminator. Hapthorn is assisted by his integrator, a sort of electronic Dr. Watson, in the broadest sense, who has been transformed into a living, breathing, and definitely, eating creature. Cat-monkey is how I pictured it in my mind, although it is also referred to as a “familiar.” “It?” Is it male? Female? Not sure, but it most definitely is no longer a machine.

The third member of Hapthorn’s feckless crew is Hapthorn himself. Or, rather, Hapthorn’s intuition, which has achieved separate awareness under the same special circumstances described in a previous novel wherein our integrator becomes flesh and blood and sentient. Well, kind of sentient. And hungry.

So the intuition is growing in awareness and power and Hapthorn can foresee the day when he, Hapthorn, the current “I” in this particular body will be nothing more than a daub of logic in the other’s mind. By the way, in this far distant future universe of Hapthorn’s (Ah, Dying Earth-like) the operating system of the universe is making a switch. Kind of like going from Windows to Mac, the universe is slowly reverting to a past state wherein sympathetic association (also known as magic) dominates over logic and reason. It seems the universe fluctuates, switching from one to the other over the millennia in constant change as yin becomes yang and yang becomes yin.

However, certain occurrences in said previous novel have brought about the change faster in particular instances, i.e. integrator becomes cat-monkey and intuition becomes ego.
So we begin the novel with the integrator snacking on expensive bowls of fruit, and Hapthorn worrying about losing control of his body.

Now to the mystery, or, mysteries. First Lord Afre, a member of Earth’s aristocracy in the far future, calls in need of a freelance discriminator (Enter the Holmesian element.). Hapthorn begins his investigation, carefully. Decadent? Jaded? The aristocrats of the far future may be that, but they are more than anything, dangerous. Of course, one does not climb to such a pinnacle nor maintain that perch without having claws. Although, so unaware of the lower classes is Lord Afre, that Henghis must wear a symbol of recognition to safeguard him (Nice touch this!).

A second mystery is carried in by the Archon, the young, somewhat clumsy, and absolute ruler of Earth. Soon, Holmes, er, uh, Hapthorn is embroiled in a case that may well determine the very integrity of the universe.

Majestrum has many fine points. The characters are fey and immoral and somewhat Vanceian, but, to Matthew Hughes’ credit, very much their own people. This novel has the feel of a Jack Vance universe, but the characters are Matthew Hughes's. I particularly like the interplay between Hapthorn and his familiar. The exchanges are often droll and dry, and very funny. Toward the end of the book, Hapthorn requires his familiar to perform what seems to be a dangerous action. The familiar refuses. The dialogue brought more than one laugh-out-loud from me. Very nice.

So the characters are good and some are very real. The mystery is not all that mysterious, and the reader is not supplied with enough information to solve the case. Not bad, but not a true mystery.
The setting tends to be flat. There is just not enough description of the world around our team. Curiously, this might be said to mimic Jack Vance, whose worlds often seem a bit vague, especially when compared to the creatures who inhabit them.

Vance meets Holmes? I will give in to the Vance part with the caveat that Matthew Hughes’s characters are his very own and should be appreciated and enjoyed for this. They are not merely Vanceian pastiches, they are real. And often quite good.

Holmes, no, I think not. But this is not a bad thing. Once again, Henghis Hapthorn, his familiar, and his soon-to-be-ego are individuals their own selves. This is not really a mystery, but an enjoyable story about a detective—I mean a freelance discriminator.

Majestrum is a delightful book and highly recommended. If you like Jack Vance you will most likely enjoy these characters. But also, enjoy them on their own. The plot is above average and combined with Hughes’s excellent writing style, moves along quite well. I enjoyed this to the point where I will go back and catch up on the doings of Hapthorn and also go forward and read the newest book, The Spiral Labyrinth, as well.

Dan Dare issue #5

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:05:59 -0400

Virgin comics has attempted to revive the character Dan Dare. In issue five of the comic, Dare confronts the evil Mekon. Mostly, this issue is a bridger for the story arc. Dan Dare has been captured and brought before the Mekon and the Prime Minister attempting to bargin with the alien.

Revivals usually involve a reinterpretation of a nostalgia character. Dan Dare, however, is left in all his perfect, stilted 1950's glory, which could be played for comic effect. Instead, the comic has stayed in the 1950s, right along with Dare. It feels as stale and dated as a bag of Lays potato chips that's been open and forgotten in the back of a cabinet for at least a year. His dialog is, of course, every bit as perfect as his manners. He is polite and unyieldingly drawn towards always doing the right thing. Readers know that, in the end, Dan Dare is good personified and that he will always triumph, no matter how sticky any situation gets.

The world, though, has (to quote Steven King's "Dark Tower") moved on, and comics have matured, as have the readers. "Dan Dare" reads more as adventure fluff with a very black and white view of the world. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are good, and cheaters never win. Many readers require more complex characters and far more complex worldviews.

So, was "Dan Dare" unreadable? Hardly. While personally, I did not find the issue to be a good read, that may have been largely due to the fact that I have not read the previous issues (and the Free Comic Book Day preview was hardly adequate to offer enough storyline to help decipher issue #5). I can see the appeal to fans of campy adventure-based sci-fi serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. This comic also serves as a very comforting nostalgia piece, as it is a dependable, predictable storyline.

"Dan Dare" does benefit from a great art team. The coloring and inking for the book are superb and the artwork itself is far beyond typical artwork from the 50s. Virgin has spared no expense for good paper and quality printing, which I'm sure hard-core fans will definitely appreciate.

While I, personally, did not enjoy "Dan Dare" the quality of the comic has encouraged me to look into other books Virgin Comics offers which seem as though they will be a far better fit for my sensibilities. I would recommend "Dan Dare" for anyone who might be searching for a kinder, gentler, much more likeable Indiana Jones.

Elephantmen War Toys

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:28:18 -0400

"Elephantmen: War Toys #3" is the final issue in a three-issue arc. It reads well as a single, stand-alone issue and, like all the other "Elephantmen" materi that I have read covers highly complex philosophical and ethical issues under the guise of a violent, pessimistic science-fiction odessy. While previous graphic novels have focused mainly on the difficulties the repurposed elephantmen face as they are forced to integrate with human society, "War Toys" focuses on what the Elephantmen were before, namely tools of a world war being waged by China and Africa.

Elephantmen are soldiers created through genetic manipulation to incorporate the DNA of both humans and animals. They are trained, from birth, to be ruthless, obediant, primal killers. They are larger than humans and stronger than humans and rely far more on their instincts. An elephantman (though this is a misnomer, as they not only resemble bipedal elephants, they also come in the forms of hippopautomi, crocodiles, and warthogs) given the order to kill the enemy does so without thought to whether the enemy is a man, woman, or child. They are effective, effecient, and brutal.

The horrors of war become magnified as elephantmen, ordered from the MAPPO corporation by Africa, invade Europe to enact genocide on a population already decimated by a virus. This issue takes place in France and Norway. A lone French woman named Yvette has decided to take on the elephantmen to avenge what has happened to her family, her friends, and her country. She becomes as brutal and every bit as accomplished as the elephantmen themselves. The issue culminates with a climactic confrontation between an elephantman and Yvette.

This is not a happy story. It was never intended to make the audience feel good. Instead, the goal seems to be to encourage people to think about what really happens in wars and in genocides and to assess whether they feel that the actual, human cost of war is really worth it. Elephantmen does not give concrete answers (though there is a fairly obvious slant towards a negative answer), nor does it offer a neatly wrapped package of proscribed ethics. Instead, the reader is offered a very compelling story with characters who truly seem to have no other choices than the paths that they have taken and no other logical endpoint than what is offered in the story. Elephantmen could disintegrate into a messy, didactic parpable that hammers a point home until the reader ends up angry, frustrated, and feeling more than a little gypped. Instead, the writers weave pathos, emotion, and moral dilemma into a skillful story that leaves the reader wishing that there was more. Fortunately, this is a comic book series, which allows for more story and character development.

Unlike previous volumes, this issue is printed in a lush grayscale with a hazy, pencil-shaded look that indicates (this is speculation on the part of the reviewer who only had this issue in the arc) a flashback. This is not to indicate that the artwork has less of a gritty feel or is less detailed. Rather, the quality of linework and shading in this issue is every bit as good as any other issue I've seen in the series. The simple removal of color simply indicates that this is a different type of story and visually draws the reader to the conclusion that these are memories, but they are very important memories.

"War Toys" is a book that I would recommend for adult readers who want a serious storyline that transends comic stereotypes. This, as with many war stories, is graphic and vicious, though not necessarily explicit. It is violent and frank which is in no way diminished by the black and white printing.

Stalking the Unicorn

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:47:25 -0400

Stalking the Unicorn by Mike Resnick is sort of like The Dresden Files meets Alice in Wonderland. It's a reprint of an urban fantasy from the 1980s before urban fantasy was a popular genre all by itself. Not only that, it's a pulp detective story with a classic opening scene of the PI in his office, broke, suddenly wife-less, down on his luck and a last bottle of good booze (Hmm. I guess it has a bit of country-western music in it too!)

Resnick doesn't disappoint; this book gives any Dresden File book a run for its money—the plot, which is more like a quest than a mystery, makes sense and any serendipitous turns are inserted with skill. This isn't really a page-turner, more of a steady-as-she-goes kind of story. It's interesting enough that you just keep reading without it being a book that really makes your heart pound. It's funny and witty without being laugh-out-loud.

Mallory, the PI, is hired to find a unicorn in an alternate Manhattan that he doesn't know about--at least not until an elf shows up and begs for his help. Mallory goes along with it, mostly assuming the liquor he consumed has much to do with what he is seeing. There's no boring parts where Mallory accepts the realization that what he's seeing is real—Mallory just starts adjusting to it in practical New Yorker style: He's cold so he buys a coat and so what if it has a button to adjust to the temperature or rain?

The chase after the unicorn leads him through several almost familiar places with lots of odd characters, bizarre settings and danger that is enough to keep you interested. Mallory faces some philosophical questions about good vs evil, but there's really no doubt what choice he will make—more a case of wondering how he will mete out his own version of justice.

At 288 pages, this is a quick read. It's good old-fashioned fun without trying too hard.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (DVD, Blu Ray)

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:34:54 -0400

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I was a Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi "virgin", as I had never read any of their books before. I was going into THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES Blu Ray movie tabula rasa. This can be a good thing, as there are no expectations, and a bad thing as I have no real background as the viewer.

All the actors did a good job with all the blue screen work they had to do, while interacting with the fantasy creatures created by powerful computers. They also portrayed a regular family with brothers/sister interaction very well. I particularly liked Sarah Bolger playing the character of Mallory Grace and how she deals with her younger brothers. Everyone that has an older sister can relate here.

From the voice acting standpoint, the CGI characters came to life. Hogsqueal, who at first I thought was too simple for the story, came around a bit in the end. The humor of the character does lend itself to some entertaining moments throughout the film. Mulgarath , the ogre, was the main villain in the story, but at the end of the day while he seemed so very evil, it did not feel like the character had been built up enough that I felt he had the chance to take over the world.

This is really where the issues come into play. The movie felt very rushed, and I am sure it had to be due to the fact it was covering 5 books in the span of a single movie even if the books were not huge volumes. We are rushed in without too much background and this causes our investment in the characters to be rather small, leading to a low level of concerns for their fate. The story should have been paced over two movies to give the character time to develop on the screen, which I can only assume they did in the book, or there should have been a warning that reads, “read books first for true background before watching”.

The strongest part of the movie stems from the special effects, which are pretty darn special. Mulgarath, the Troll in the tunnels and the goblins themselves are extremely well done and mesh with the environment seamlessly. The battle scenes draw you in and bring what you only thought you could render in your imagination on the screen. These are the scenes that up the excitement factor for the movie and make us sit up and take notice. Mulgarath, with his morphing from one character to the next is truly a marvel of special effects.

The two things from the Blu Ray Extras that stood out (don’t know if they are also on the DVD) were the making of the fantastical creatures in the ILM computer labs as well as the interviews with Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. There are other interviews with the rest of the actors and then some deleted scenes as well, what one has come to expect from the extras section.

Overall, a rather rushed effort that is really too scary to lend itself to a young child’s viewing. Maybe being a well versed fantasy reader had an effect on my review, or maybe reading the books may be necessary to fully enjoy it. The special effects save this movie for a lower score from this reviewer, and everyone should see them in glorious High Definition at some point.

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:42:53 -0400

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Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

Here I go again on my own…(Whitesnake 1987). Just seems an appropriate way to start out our review of the new Futurama episodes packed into a DVD for a movie length feature. This will eventually air on Comedy Central Network as a bunch of 30 minute episodes, and we can only hope that it will get picked up for some direct to TV shows as well. If you are unfamiliar with Futurama, it is a Matt Groening creation of a man (Fry) who is frozen in 1999 and thawed out in the 31st century. Futurama gives all the people that lived through the 1980s nice Easter Eggs of funny things to watch for when Fry deals with the many situations at hand.

Review of the movie storylines

I am going to pick up some of the story lines and sub story lines and comment on them without hopefully spoiling anything for the viewers. We start a bit after the last movie (see the continuity) and there is a big ‘ole tear in the universe.

One of the first storylines we get is of Colleen and Fry, who are dating (we can see a whole dating theme throughout the movie). Unbeknownst to Fry though, the future must look upon polygamy in a different light as Colleen has boyfriends from all corners of the world as well as walks of life. Fry is really digging her (what happened to him and Leela) and tries to make it work, but Fry cannot take the sharing of his girlfriend for that long. This lends itself to some humorous moments but it is really only a setup for the central plot of the movie with the big ball of tentacle loving that Yivo puts on the planet.

Sprinkled in the storylines we have a neat little one about Bender and his fascination of what he originally believes to be an imaginary League of Robots from his robot youth. Nice spoof concept here as well as being a necessity for Bender’s climactic act at the end of the movie. It is a great setup, even if it is originally a solid storyline from the get go. Hang on ‘cause it makes the movie in my opinion.

Professor Farnsworth and Doctor Wernstrom, as always, get to competing with each other on who gets to encase the world in their version of some clear crystalline structure. Having a nemesis is awesome, and the back and forth between both of the characters works as usual. A nice cameo voice from Stephen Hawking flesh this part of the movie out as well.

Ok, so back onto the central concept of the movie, which can be summed up as “dating”. The previously mentioned big ball (think planet or so sized) of tentacles comes to earth and wants to spread his love to the people of Earth by sticking his tentacles into their necks. Fry, who was the first to meet Yivo, soon becomes Pope of the tentacle shenanigans with most everyone on Earth being ass-imilated (intended). But as Leela escapes she comes to find out the tentacles are genitals or genticles and everyone now feels disgusted. So is that it? No, Yivo feels bad that he/she pretty much raped the inhabitants of Earth and now wants to go on a date with the people of Earth. Some funny dialogue ensues with some answering machine messages and the Head of President Nixon pulling out some quips from behind his ear.

The inhabitants of Earth figure they will go back to Yivo’s Universe and what they come to find out is that it is a pretty good approximation of Heaven and everything is pretty satisfied.

This is Futurama though and here comes Bender being Bender. While everyone is loving the Yivo life, Bender brings his robot army he got from the robot devil which he used to take over the League of Robots and “rescues” all the humans from Yivo. Bender is a friend to a fault and I love that about the character. His trying to save them actually ends up taking them away from the perfect life, and to Bender it is all in a days work. This is by far the climax of the movie and stays true to character.

There is one storyline in the movie that really for me was the reason I knocked it down a few notches, and that is that Kif Kroker asks Amy to be his Fon-Fon Rue and have the ceremony on his home planet to make the union. I never really like the Kif character and his role to begin with, but this just seemed forced and out of place. Then to top it all off *spoiler* we have the Kif resurrection at the hands of Yivo. Come on, I for one would have been pleased to see him go. The Amy and Zapp sex may have some future implications going forward and that I do enjoy. Switch out this story line and come up with something else and this is then in the top notch halls of Futurama.

Extras

Let us not forget the extras of this DVD because they are pretty solid. I am not a huge fan of extras, and had this not been for a review I probably would have skipped them. I would have been a darn fool to do so though. We have the norm, with some commentary by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Michael Rowe, Claudia Katz, Peter Avanzino and Lee Supercinski.

Futurama The Lost Adventure, which are the cut scenes from a long lost video game. The commentary on the top of the computer scenes are really funny as well. There are two audio tracks, one with the creative people commenting and then the actually audio for the cut scene episodes. It is almost worth watching twice, one for each audio track. The characters are cell shaded 3-d models and it looks pretty good actually, the robots may even look up to par with the cartoon. The scenes all together add up to an extra long episode of Futurama. The Professor’s project the Re-animator is pretty funny, and seeing Devastator in his cameo (hey as well as Zoidberg) was also nice. So this extra is actually more than an extra but really like a second episode.

Also in the bonus features is a story board of the movie, which is neat to see how things are laid out and pitched. There is also a section that has some bloopers while the actors are doing their audio voiceovers. Meet Yivo allows us some insight into the voice actor (David Cross) who does Yivo. It is always really cool to see the real actors doing the voices of cartoon characters, even though it can be weird at the same time. The Deleted Scenes are always a nice touch, even if some of them never made it past the story board phase. Geek feature where the 3d animators show us how their job works worked for me as well, it always interesting to see how these things are done. The Deathball background was one of the weaker parts of the extras as I really was not fond of that portion of the movie anyway. And now on to the second best extra. A preview of the next movie, which is a Dungeon and Dragons spoof called Benders Holiday, which we should be able to check out Holiday 2008 (Christian and Jewish Holiday I would assume if anyone is keeping track). Obviously with our fantasy reading background this is on the super hype meter for me.

Summary and waiting for next one

The thing I enjoy most about the Futurama characters is the consistency of their actions as well as the overall tidbits that get carried over from one episode to the next; why hasn’t any company made a Slurm drink yet? TBWABB seems like it might have had too much closure on the story, which at this point we cannot tell if it is a good thing or not. A Beast with a Billion Backs may not be the best episode(s) of Futurama that has ever been produced by Matt Groening, but being very cliché here, a good episode of Futurama is still better then a great episode of most other comedy television. We had one storyline bomb in the Amy/Kif one, and we had a little bit of a lull in the latter parts of the DVD, but Bender saving them all really upped the ante. Even though the scene was at the end and didn’t seem like a huge thing, from the Futurama standpoint and the character of Bender it was just brilliant.

Futurama is my favorite cartoon sitcom, passing the Simpsons, King of the Hill, American Dad, and Family Guy (which I feel has gone too far in some of its humor). Bring this show back into the regular rotation with a regular season Fox, it is missed. I haven’t watched the Simpsons in ages, but I have re-watched every Futurama at least 10 times and it still is on my DVRs schedule.

Since I got to watch this one early it means an even longer time before I get to watch the third part, as Bender would say “Well I’m boned”.