Author Archives: Kait McFadyen

About Kait McFadyen

I am a partially employed Canadian science teacher with visions of grand travel and incredible adventures. When not immersed in work I maintain a small backyard garden, where I try to protect my crops of corn, tomatoes and other vegetables from the neighbourhood wildlife. The all-important library, my source of entertainment and discourse, is a comfortably short walk away.

An Ancient Peace – Book Review

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Yes, I realize that my reading list is far from recent.

I have read many of Tanya Huff’s fantasy novels, but this was my first of her science fiction. An Ancient Peace by Tanya Huff is the first novel in the Peacekeeper Trilogy.

My first impressions of this book was that it was dense. It felt like pretty heavy reading, as I was dumped into a complex science fiction world filled with multiple alien races, a crew with deep relationships and a general feeling of history. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the book and looked it up I discovered this is the second series starring the same main character: Gunnery Sargent Torin Kerr. Good news, I have lots more reading to look forward to. Bad news, it makes the start of the book rather challenging to get into.

While I still feel a little like I am missing something, it helped that most of the narrative focused around Torin. Grounded by the Gunnery Sargent, I was able to navigate the rest of the book. I found the story compelling enough I want to read the sequels. I like the strength of the main protagonist; Torin is a strong and respected individual. She is legendary within the military circles of the Corps. While Torin certainly kicks butt throughout the book, she also has an attitude and force of personality that make for a very strong character.

The technology and science fiction elements were interesting, particularly the concept of an evil, manipulative organic plastic. There are multiple alien races. They are not variations on humans either. In fact, some of the races are very different indeed, with at least one being described like a group of sentient giant spiders. More than different appearances the races have different common characteristics. This is often reflected in the dialogue. Huff uses different speech patterns and occasionally an invented phrase to help convey this information. For me the most interesting was the use of zi and zer as unique pronouns for one particular race.

The rest of the crew, a mix of different species and skills, was also interesting. There are five others in Torin’s current crew; three of them are also ex-military while two are civilians. I found Torin’s distinction between military personal and civilian personal interesting. She certainly has a sense that those who have been to war are expected to deal with violence, while civilians should be protected. This really helps to forward some of the conversation about the horror of war.

There are a lot of poignant moments, scenes that discuss the impact of war, discuss racism and deal with preconceptions. It is a strongly written science fiction story, not a light read, but certainly a good one. Easily worth a rating of 5/5 stars.

The Custard Protocol – Book Review

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Continuing my review of series…

The Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger includes three novels: Prudence, Imprudence, and Competent. These stories continue in the steampunk world that starred Alexia Tarabotti as a preternatural in Victorian London. Only this time we are following Alexia’s daughter, Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama. Rue is taking her best friend Primrose and Prim’s twin brother, Percy along with Quesnel in her dirigible as she causes havoc around the world.

The books are filled with Gail Carriger’s characteristic quirky writing style. There is an abundance of dirigible hijinks, werewolves, vampires and cleverly colourful characters. Carriger has an engaging, highly entertaining writing style. Her cast of characters are well conceived, colourfully described and largely diverse. These are great books, which I thoroughly enjoyed – once I got in them.

My biggest difficulty was the transition at the start of the series. It reads very strongly as a continuation of an earlier story. And this makes it a little difficult to engage, especially if you are new to the world. I struggled as Alexia Tarrabotti was the first of Carriger’s characters I met and knew. Not unreasonably, Rue has a different relationship with her mother and so Alexia is written differently than when I was reading the Parasol Protectorate. It took a while for me to warm to Rue. In fact I think I enjoyed the third book more, though not the cover. Competence featured the twins, Primrose and Percy, instead of Prudence. As such it featured less of the metanatural form-stealing and more the skills of those who were raised by a vampire queen. I didn’t mind the constant comments on the silliness of Ivy’s choice in hats.

That said, I think Carriger handled the diversity of gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals more openly and beautifully in this series than in her earlier work. While her manner of writing might be what first drew me to her work, Carriger’s diverse and honest characters are certainly what keeps one reading.

I might have thought the brightly coloured covers seemed to target a younger audience, I would still place the main audience closer to adult than younger teen.

Overall: these are excellently written books whose author has a fun, distinctive voice. 4.5/5 stars.

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Just realized that there is in fact a fourth book in the series that focuses on Percy in Japan – Reticence. I suppose this means this is not a complete series review. However, it will have to do for now as Reticence doesn’t release until August 6th.

Highland Magic – Book Review

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It is finally summer and my goal is to read – at least for the first couple of weeks.

The Highland Magic Series by Helen Harper includes all four books: Gifted Thief, Honour Bound, Veiled Threat and Last Wish. The series stars Integrity Taylor Adair a thief reluctantly pulled back into the politics of the Sidhe courts. Over the course of the four books Integrity is going to have to learn the truth about her parents, the motivations of the Fomori across the veil and her own inner strength.

Highland Magic is an urban fantasy set in the highlands of Scotland. This northern section of Scotland has been separated from the lowlands by a magical barrier originally designed to separate the Sidhe clans from the barbarous Fomori. While Sidhe might claim to be the honourable group, their racist, bickering, manipulative and violent actions really call into question who the true demons are.

Joining Integrity on her journey are her adopted father (human) and close friends (merman, pixie, and wizard). Oh, and then there is Ben, the jinni of the letter opener whose wishes all come with unwanted consequences. The motley crew makes for some entertaining hijinks and discussions of what family means – is it blood or those you choose to be around?

The distinctly Scottish setting is filled with obvious landmarks – Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Obin. At least these are the names of places that jumped out at me. The collection of magical creatures felt more Scottish than American, with a greater emphasis on the Sidhe, Trolls, Pixies and several species I am not familiar with. There were no vampires or werewolves in this story.

But the thing I liked most about this series was Integrity’s perspective on violence – she is a pacifists. This is not an excuse for our heroine to be a damsel in distress. Integrity is very much the type of character to charge, well sneak, forward to get things done. She does question her own non-violence policy throughout the series but in the end she is able to find a way around the various problems in a non-violent manner. I like that we are given a strong female lead whose strength does not rely on her ability to fist punch the problem into submission.

With quick, witty writing and a distinctly Scottish setting I really enjoyed this atypical urban fantasy. I thought it was another successful series by Helen Harper – who also wrote The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic series (and many other things I haven’t yet read).

A solid 4.5 stars out of 5!

Rules of Redemption – Book Review

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Title: Rules of Redemption

Series: The Firebird Chronicles

Author: TA White

I really liked this book. So much so, that I finished reading it once and two days later started re-reading the entire book again. More importantly, I my second read-through was intentionally slower. I was reading for all the little details I missed I hurried through my first read too caught up in the action and adventure of the story to be bothered with the little things.

As far as I can tell, speed reading is just a means of skimming through pages. I am not terrible at scanning and following stories as so many of them follow very familiar and predictable paths. And generally, I still get enough enjoyment out of my material to not feel the need of changing. But every so often a story resonates with me. Those are the ones that I want to read a second (or third or …) time. And this was one of those stories.

Book cover for Rules of Redemption by TA White. Image from the internet.

Rules of Redemption is a space-fantasy. There are lots of starships, space bases, aliens, laser weapons and intergalactic wars. There are also alien-wizards, who could be more advanced or just magical. As has been stated before: advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic.

Kira is a fantastically strong and perfectly flawed lead character. Once she lead one of humanity’s most effect military groups in fighting the dastardly Tsavitee aileen race bent on universal domination and destruction. Nicknamed Pheonix, Kira was a powerful fighter and leader until she abandoned that life for the quiet solitude of a salvager. But of course fate will not leave such an interesting character alone. Docked at a space station for repairs, Kira will draw unwanted attention for both the human military leaders and visiting Tuann ambassadors. This will lead to some uncomfortable truths about her own origins as Kira is swept away to a home she doesn’t remember and family she doesn’t want. Though the feeling is mutual, as her family is reluctant to welcome her back into the fold.

With plenty of action, future tech and alien creatures it is a fun read. There is also some interesting characters with deep histories and just a hint of romance to keep me properly engaged. So much is learned in this first book of the series, but there are also many unanswered questions. Such that I wish I had a bookclub with whom I could discuss this book.

Note: incase it needs to be stated, spoilers will follow

Some things that drew my attention: Odin, the experimental base, the source of the Tsavitee and Greydon.

Who is Odin? Is he (or she – it doesn’t specify, but for now I will use male pronouns) really the genius out to help Kira or does he have another motive? Could odin be a Tsavitee in hiding? Could Odin be part of the human political network, the consortium? Have we met this character going by another name? Because if that is the cause I could make a guess at who it really is. Does the author even know who Odin is? There are so many questions, mostly stemming from the fact that Odin knows both that Kira is on that space station and she is being followed. Sure he could have hacked the stations cameras, but he could also have been present on the station. My gut feeling though, is that Odin is going to be the cause of betrayal in the next book. Either he will directly betray Kira, or cause Kira to do something that has her betraying her new friends/family.

Despite my second read through, I cannot remember if the location of the evil research facility that held Kira when she was growing up was in human space or not. It is mentioned that the scientists working at the facility were Tsavitee, does this explain how she knows the language? But were humans also present? Because that would only spike the tensions between Tuann and humanity. Did anyone else escape from the centre?

Where do the Tsavitee come from? It is discussed that they look very different, but are genetically similar. Did they create themselves or were they created by someone else? Is there a greater link between the Tsavitee and say the Tuann than anyone realizes? And why would they keep a human hostage for over a decade?

Greydon, the Emperor’s Face, is from the House Roake. Is he also a primus? Because he doesn’t shift, but certainly acts like he would be strong enough to do so. And exactly does Kira fit into that House? Though I am guessing that her father was the previous Overlord, so she is likely going to be tested for that potential. This I think is where the second book will pick up. But will Kira take responsibility for a House when she has a personal mission to infiltrate and free those captured by the Tsavitee?

There are so many exciting and unanswered questions with brings me to the biggest complaint. Why do I have to wait so long for the sequel?

Final Rating: 5/5 stars

Kill the Queen – Book Review

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Title: Kill the Queen

Author: Jennifer Estep

Kill the Queen was an engaging read. Everleigh, Evie, Saffira Winter Blair had a strong voice. And the author, Jennifer Estep, did a pretty good job explaining how Evie went from low status royal family member, seventeenth in line to the throne, to challenging her cousin in a duel for the crown. Sure the training sequence was a little rushed, but waiting years and years for Evie to develop the skills would have been less exciting to read about.

Besides, Bellona is a land of magic mixed with a gladiator tradition. It was interesting setting for the story. I of course liked the strong female presence running through the entire world. Here men and women are treated equally. The rich and the poor are not.

There was political intrigue with the neighbouring courts of Morta, Andvari and Unger. There were fierce fights between skilled gladiators, pageantry with the gladiator shows (feeling more like a circus with their acrobats and food sales) and of course there was a crown up for grabs by the strongest and most cunning of the Blair family line.

In many ways this was a story about family, a large and dysfunctional family that was massacred by one of its one in the first chapter. So, perhaps it is better to say this was a story about surviving ones dysfunctional and very deadly family.

Escaping the castle and its bloody court, Evie joins a gladiator troop where she puts some of her random skills to work and befriends a number of the prominent people in the group. One of the weak points for me was her keeping the secret of her identity for so long. Mostly because the Queen’s final words before dying words were to find the Black Swan gladiator group and seek help from their illustrious leader. It is not like Evie didn’t have a number of opportunities to come clean about who she really was.

Book cover for the sequel to Kill a Queen. Image from the internet.

That aside, I liked that Evie was an older heroine (~ 28), understandably skilled in a number of random areas like cooking, dancing and small talk. That she was a strong character, who had learned the value of silence. The magic in the world was interesting. The politics were thoughtful. The overall word was detailed.

I lament the way that we equate strength to the physical prowess needed to destroy another person. There are more ways to solving a problem rather than just running a sharp blade through its heart, but that is a general comment on trends in writing and society.

Importantly this was a fun read and I look forward to the next book, which just might address a very important aspect of these power plays. It is one thing to kill the queen, but how do you keep the throne (and stabilize your country). Killing and ruling are not the same skill set, at least not entirely.

Final Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Heartstone – Book Review

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Title: Heartstone

Author: Elle Katharine White

“Pride & Prejudice meets Dragons”

Much like Pride, Prejudice and Zombies the Elle Katharine White is tweaking Jane Austen’s classic romance by adding more fantastical elements to the well worn narrative. One of the biggest differences, and greatest strengths of Heartstone was the author’s choice to create their own world. It is not Hertfordshire with some dragons roaming about. Rather, the story of of Pride and Prejudice has been reskinned with new character names and a world of fantastical creatures. But don’t worry, you will not have any problem connecting Aliza Bentaine with Elizabeth Bennet.

My first question upon completing the Heartstone was: Why? Why did the author restrict herself to following the plot points of Pride & Prejudice, when she so clearly struggled to contain her own voice within these narrow confines? The greatest failing, in my mind was the fact Heartstone mirrored Pride & Prejudice. Granted, there are some obvious differences, one of the Bentaine sisters is dead. Their family lives and belongs to the great house in the neighbourhood. THere are dragons that act as elite cavalry units in hunting and killing dangerous creatures of myth and legend. I could go on. But the differences pale in comparison to the similarities. The overall plot, the arch of the narrative is undeniably P&P.

This meant that I knew from the second paragraph what would help, at least in broad strokes. There was no great surprise at the inevitable betrayal. Not great victory when Aliza and Alastair Daired acknowledge their mutual attraction. To me it felt like the author sacrificed the potentially interesting world, filled with magic and manners, for something people already recognized. This was disappointing. The story could have been great. It could even have started as a mirror of P&P, but it should have been allowed to grow and flourish on its own terms, not someone else’s.

Before you write off my complaints as those of a person who hates everything. I didn’t hate everything. I like dragon riding warriors. I like fantastical worlds of magic and dangerous creatures merged with regency-flavoured societies. I like the tensions that arise between the snobbish upper-upper crust and those who are on the lower rungs (but still part of Society). The setting worked. It had potential. But there was not mystery, because the story was so obviously Pride and Prejudice.

Book covers for the first too books in the Heartstone series. Image from the internet.

What I would have loved instead, was for the story to feel reminiscent of P&P without following the events like a paint-by-numbers drawing. The movie, Age of Adaline, feels as though it was inspired by Sleeping Beauty. But the authors did not have a princess prick her finger and fall asleep. Instead they explored a different form of agelessness and what happens when someone comes into your life talking about love.

Heartstone could have been heavily inspired by Jane Austen’s work, without copying it so closely. This would have been amazing, instead of mediocre. But then this brings up another important question: Would I have chosen to read the book without the blatant reference to Jane Austen? I would like to say the answer would have been yes. But it is just as likely I would have skipped over this story, as I have skipped over many others in my search for a really good read. So instead, I will ponder my third question: Do I bother to read the sequel?

Final Rating: 3/5 stars

Captain Marvel – Movie Review

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I really wanted to like this movie. Despite my best efforts to temper my expectations, I was still hopeful – unreasonably so. I will not go so far to say that Captain Marvel was a bad movie, but it was lackluster. It was missing the punchy colour and world building that went into Black Panther and sadly, unlike Wonder Woman, I found Captain Marvel largely lacking the ability to engage the audience.

Charismatic Wonder woman on the left and flat Captain Marvel on the right. Both of their superhero names are kind of dumb (personal opinion only). Image from the internet.

I wanted to say how I thought that Captain Marvel was missing a personality and any decent characterization. I still think this is true, but I have been reminded by friends that most superheroes are pretty flat. They have a good point. Thor and Captain America – particularly in their first movies – were rather drab as characters. They did not emote a great day, being all bushed with warrior stoicism that we attribute to epic heroes. So, really it comes back to my foolish hope for something more. Because I certainly don’t think it would have take much to make some huge improvements to the movie.

For a better Captain Marvel, I would only tweak the script enough to give more dialogue and character development to the principal leads and supporting cast. Something I strongly feel should have been done as there really is a rather small cast on this film and small cast means we should know them better.

I love the fists of flames. And the blowing hair. Image from the internet.

Starting at the begging, please give Vers more of hook than occasionally emotional. Also, if she is going to be the joker on the team, the reactions of the others should reflect this role. Not only do they fail to make interesting the alien homeworld where we first meet Vers, the also fail to explain who the Kree are. Now, I am not an expert in superheros. I have never read a Captain Marvel story and I come to this movie largely ignorant. So, please, take a few minutes to lay the framework for the plot. Who is this collection of various aliens, spread across the galaxy with incredible tech and an AI overlord/god? What is interesting, unique or quirky about them? What do they stand for? Are they a melting pot of alien cultures? Doe something with these first few minutes beyond a generic hand-to-hand training room and public transit railcar.

[Note: I have since learned the Kree are not a melting pot of different alien races, rather they show some variation in their appearance. I wish this had been noted in the movie.]

Team shot! But who are these colleagues? I couldn’t name one of them. Not good since they were both friends and enemies of Vers. Image from the internet.

When Vers goes to join her team for that first mission, I cannot tell if this is her first mission ever or if she has worked with these people on many prior occasions. I almost wonder if the writers know this information, because the reactions of the rest of her team should be either to welcome/tease the newbie or role their eyes at her regular antics. There should be either feel that Vers is just joining a group of strangers, or that they have a longer (6 year even) history of working together. If the latter is more true, then some of these teammates should demonstrate this history through their comments and actions. There should be passing references to previous missions, or inside jokes that develop between friends. Some of the team can hate or dislike Vers, but some should be friendly. Also, their names should be far clearer. Coming out of the film, I couldn’t name anyone of Vers’ Kree team that I think she worked with for at least part of her 6 years with them. This would certainly make the twist at the end more impactful.

She was the mother of Captain Marvel, in a sense. Mar-Vell helped to shape Carrol Danvers into the superhero she became. Image from the internet.

I really liked the pre-2000 time setting. I thought the jokes about slow and simple tech cute. While I would like to have seen more for this time, though I am not actually certain what they could have done differently. I thought they did a great job with Nick Fury – one of the highlights of the movie. I also thought that the impeding of Vers’ powers until the end was notably well done. I understand that Captain Marvel can easily be overly powerful, so their use of her fire-blasting hands and military training to kick butt and still be at risk was a good balance.

While I will always argue that more time should be spent on dialogue and character development and far less time should be spent on fight scenes, there were some moments of visual interest. One that stood out was the early fight with the old lady on the train. I liked that the bystanders worked to stop Vers – I would have loved to see them have an even faster, stronger reaction, but the scene ended in a pretty good manner. I guess, that is something I would have liked to explore, the cultural differences between life on the Kree homeworld and Vers’ return to earth. After all, she is missing her memories, so she wouldn’t know or understand things. They had a moment or two of this, but there could have been greater humour derived from these social misunderstandings.

There were good points in the Captain Marvel film. Not knowing anything about the comics, I would not change the arc of the plot. But certainly, this film needed stronger characterization of not just Captain Marvel, but also her friends/enemies too. With the notable exception of Fury, everyone else needed some character work. Oh, and I don’t like the explanation of the eye. That was better left to the imagination as mystery is more powerful than explanation. In the end the movie was fine, feeling more like a middle chapter in a longer narrative and over missing the engaging hook to make it stand out from the rest of the Superhero Movies.

Some of the key players from Captain Marvel. Image from the internet.

Movie Review – Ocean’s 8

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Yes, I realize I am very late coming to this party, but ages after the film released to video I have finally gotten around to watching it. There was a combination of factors that resulted in me seeing Ocean’s 8 some eight months after its launch. On one hand life got in the way. But also, the first reviews I heard were pretty lackluster. And I can see why.

*Note: This review is filled with spoilers.

First, let me say I am a huge fan of the 2001 version of Ocean’s 11. I love nearly everything about the movie that I had no expectations for. I loved the heist. I loved the acting and in particular the way it was filmed. There was a great cohesion of costume choices, music, props and stage layout that really worked seamlessly together to create a great environment for the story. Everything worked together, so it felt unified and purposeful in design.

There are also some very classic scenes that stylistically are so interesting. For example, there is one scene with Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) sitting in a bar. Danny is talking about the numbers of his crew for the heist and whether they need one more person. Rusty is flopped over the counter of the bar, with a glass of alcohol in one hand. The only reaction from Rusty in the entire scene is when he blinks his eyes. The interaction of these two characters suggests a history that monologues of words couldn’t convey in the same elegant fashion. It is these moments of quiet, mixed in with moments of banter and action that really add to the pacing.

While, Ocean’s 12 was not as much a favourite for me, I have come to greatly appreciate the experimentation that it took. Unfortunately, Ocean’s 13 demonstrated the film-makers didn’t really know what had caused 11 to be so successful (strong plot and excellent filming!) and as a result we get something that is watered-down and mostly boring. This is one of the biggest failings of Ocean’s 8. It is a paler version of a great movie. Here the film-makers knew that having one great heist with a twist was central. But they missed all the other stuff that elevated Ocean’s 11 into greatness.

I like the all female cast. I even like the basic premise of the heist. And the costumes, particularly for the MET gala were pretty awesome too. Unfortunately, the plot was shallow, the characters were one dimensional and the twist at the end was not cleaver so much as a cheat. If I was to describe the film in one word, it would like be: Flat. Everything was pretty boring, which is a shame when you have such a talented caste. The actors did not shine in this film, where the most interesting character is the Fence/Stay-at-home Mom, Tammy (Sarah Paulson). Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) and Lou (Cate Blanchett) did not have great chemistry. They felt more like strangers than long time friends that understand how the other works. I know there is not enough time to develop every character in the crew, but surely they could have done more with Debbie and Lou.

The heist could have been interesting, but it wasn’t. There was never any real sense that things could go wrong. With a lack of stakes, it was difficult to become emotionally engaged. There was a lack of set up, which meant the big final twist was so unexpected I really felt cheated in the process. One of the great things about Ocean’s 11 is re-watching the movie knowing how the ending works. Doing this you can see all the little signs and clues of how things are really going to work. The first time you watch the heist, you are following the characters with great interest and anticipation. You think you know what is going on, you believe you are watching the heist play out. And when it looks like they are going to be caught – well, you are nervous as you should be. When the twist is revealed, you can look back over all those previous scenes and see how it fits together. This was cleaver filming and story telling. Unfortunately, Ocean’s 8 was not cleaver. It was bland. Roping in a character you never heard about in this film, to pull off a stunt that the characters expressly said they were not going to do – it was cheating, not smart story telling. Other’s may have thought it was cute to have the return of Yen (Shaobo Qin), but I thought it was disjointed. Two reasons, one Debbie makes a point of turning down men for this job. And two, it was like they were trying too hard to connect back with Ocean’s 11 instead of doing their own thing.

Also, the pacing felt off. Partly because you think you know when the ending is going to strike but then it keeps going. In concept, I don’t mind pushing the actual ending back further, but then de-escalate the importance of the heist. I also would have loved to see more of a set up with Claude Becker (Richard Armitage). This could have been way tenser if he seemed to be catching onto Debbie’s plan. Also, her revenge streak felt a little contrived. The writers needed to flesh out that plot line in more detail. They also should have show how much of a player/con Claude was throughout the film. Using him properly, they really could have upped the stakes during the heist.

I liked Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) being in on the plot. I even like the idea that most of the crew would have no idea she was part of it. But I would have had her in from the beginning – because I can see how this could played for a good laugh. I think the most frustrating aspect of Ocean’s 8 is how they squandered what could have been a really good movie. They had some descent ideas, a fantastic caste and some wonderful costumes. They lacked depth of character, a unified presentation (in visual and musical design) and an intelligently filmed heist. I wished it was better, I wanted it to better. In the end it is a fine movie to watch on a plane or an evening when there is nothing else to do.

Movie Review – Mary Poppins Returns

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I confess this is being written far later than I intended. I was able to watch Mary Poppins Returns over the holiday. I enjoyed the experience. It was a nice to sit numbly for the 2 hours that I was in the theatre. But alas, it does not come close to replacing the original Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews.

First, I think it is important to point out some of the good things about the film. The animation was very pretty. The choreography was well done to my untrained eye. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt were fun to watch. The guest appearances by Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury were cute. (I was not so sold on Meryl Streep’s character.) There were also several catchy songs – most notably the bathtub song: “Can you imagine that?”.

Now onto a few of my disappointments. This was not a proper sequel. Yes, it had the Banks children grown up, but it was trying to follow the same plot line as the original movie only less well done. It was so like the original in pacing, design, layout, song type … that it felt more like a remake than a sequel.

In fact, Mary Poppins Returns spent so much time referencing the original film, I am surprised anyone of a younger generation who didn’t grow up with Julie Andrews likes the movie at all. Nearly every scene, song, and design choice was a direct “hey-do-you-remember-this-from-Mary-Poppins”. It was very paint by numbers and because of that, it felt shallow, disconnected and ultimately unsatisfying.

If the writers were set on doing a sequel with the Banks children then they really needed to come up with a more original issue. Having Michael Banks, a creative artist with his head in the clouds, try to pull off being too serious like his father was utterly unconvincing. In fact, Michael Banks was the least successful character in the film.

The easiest fix, would have been to follow a different family. This way, the paint-by-numbers format, where every song and scene in MP Returns mirrored the original MP would have felt less creatively flat. As it stands I wonder at all the work that went into producing a film that was a paler reflection of the original source material.

You can see how much more frivolous Emily Blunt’s Mary Poppins is compared with the portrayal of Mary Poppins by Julie Andrews.

However, a different family, even if they still lived on the same street would have added just enough variation that the thin plot would have worked. To improve the movie and really appeal to the audience, I would have loved to see the writers go beyond a regurgitation of old material.

It would have been wonderful to have a fully realized and relatable problem facing this new family. MP Returns didn’t have a strong problem to solve, so all the characters, both the good and the bad felt weak and washed out. They could have then themed all the songs and scenes around this new and original issue. In stead have having a collection of disjointed musical numbers. Also, the writer should explore an issue other than the idea we should all have a little more fun in our lives and be more like children. It is an overdone concept and this film did not pull it off successfully. But they could have worked with kindness, honesty, truth, perspective, oh, any number of different themes.

Rather than trying to constrain Mary Poppins to a few familiar lines from the original movie, I would love to have seen greater development of her character. At least better dialogue. There were too many instances when what she said didn’t really make sense. I suppose she needed to be less focused on sounding like and enigma and more time sounding like a wise nanny – which in theory she is supposed to be.

In the end I would give the movie 2.5 stars, because Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda tried so very hard to do something special.

Enthroned: King Arthur and Her Knights Book 1

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Book cover. Image from the internet.

Title: Enthroned

Series: King Arthur and Her Knights

Author: K.M. Shea

Tags: Arthurian Legend, Medieval, Fantasy, Time-travel

Every once in a while I find myself taken with a book or a series. For reasons I cannot even begin to explain, I have fallen for the series King Arthur and Her Knights. It is a sweet, lovely series of seven books, the first of which is titled Enthroned.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

The premise is simple: while on vacation in Britain, American born Britt Arthurs is pulled back in time to the time of Legendary King Arthur. Specifically to the time when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone. The real Arthur has run off with a shepherdess and Britt is recruited to take his place. Yup, it is a silly idea. And yes, I can certainly find flaws or at least things I don’t like. But mostly I found the series charming.

I like Britt. I like her largely practical view point, especially as she is a little older (in her mid-twenties). I like her open way of speaking, her strength with a sword and various flaws. Yes, time travel is a tricky beast to write about. This one had some good ideas, the spell dealt with the language barrier. Britt’s slightly unusual past explained her skill with the sword and competency when riding. I found it entertaining that her modern slang was not understood by those in medieval england.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

The author neatly dealt with the issue of Britt’s gender. I like that from the very beginning, there was a core group of powerful individuals in on the secret. It certainly made the cover up of her sex more believable.

I was especially pleased that the author dealt with the idea of bringing knowledge of past events to the past. Legends are twisted and reshaped over time. The stories we tell today are not the same stories that were told 200 years ago about King Arthur, so it is not unreasonable to assume that the actual events are also different. Now, you do have to accept magic exists for this world to work. But internally, I found it consistent.

Arthurian legends have often been a miss for me. I am no expert in the history of King Arthur and perhaps that was a boon in this case. Over the years, I was turned off Arthur largely by the betrayals. Like Britt I struggled to like Lancelot with his affair with Guinevere. So, this Lancelot and Guinevere were fun to read. Especially as the main character was largely biased against both parties. Granted, I also struggled with the encroaching domination of Christian beliefs as they squashed out the pagan rituals, a topic not covered in this series.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

I have two complaints that I would level at the story. As much as I loved the ending (spoilers to come), I found the paradox of time-travel set up by the last chapter disheartening. Especially as it was such an easy fix. I know the author is trying to be cute and have everyone connected, but really, I would have been happy, if the Knights and Fairies who came forward had not interacted with Britt during her childhood. Poof – no paradox to deal with.

My second complaint is: the books were too short. I loved the little daily scenes about the castle and interacting with the different knights. I would have loved to see Britt interact with even more of the people of Camelot. Mostly, I would have loved to read more about her adventures. Each of the first six books is about 125 pages, with book seven being a more satisfying 290 pages.

Book cover. Image from the internet.

Yes, there is magic. Yes, there is time travel. But most importantly there is adventure, sword-fighting, a hint of romance and all the chivalry you could want in this series. Also, a strong female character backed up by other strong females! I loved this series and for right now it is my obsession. So, I bequeath five stars on Enthroned, Enchanted, Embittered, Embark, Enlighten, Endeavor, and Endings.