19 Comments
Nov 22, 2021Liked by John Birmingham

Now that I've knocked off Foundation and the Morning Show I can get stuck into this. I also never got around to reading the books, so I'm looking forward to a whole bunch of spendy fantasy cheese.

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Long ago, I used to drink at a pub called the Shiny Navel.

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I tried to like it. I stayed until midnight to watch the episode when it came out. To tell I was disappointed would be like saying the water is a bit wet. I could go on and on about how boring it is, how blank the characters and how unimaginative the worldbuilding is. But those things could probably be fixed just by watching a little longer. It never happened before, but I can dream, can I?

But the main immersion killer were the characters. They are annoying and do not fit into this world. They are not a group of girls and boys who grew up in a fantasy world, with dangers everywhere. They are not some farmers from an isolated mountain village. No, they are modern-day teenagers. Entitled, whinny, confrontational. They fit into this world like lipgloss on a pig.

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Yes drop it on my to watch pile. I only just finished Foundation (which I enjoyed)

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I won't get to see this anytime soon due to not subscribing to Amazon...pity, I'm now intrigued. I know what you mean about a layer of shite on the sets and actors to add to the 'ambience' - GoT did that well, as did Deadwood. Inheritors of a fine tradition going back to Clint Eastwood horse operas where everything had a layer of grime and manure, and I can't go past Monty Python and the Holy Grail ('Dennis! There's some lovely filth down here..'). Fantasy settings that are too shiny and lacking in grime just don't cut it.

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I did the hard yards and all 14? Books

Don't remember everything but a lot of the exposition has disappeared. Some changes but same flavor also shorter.

Jordan really needed to be edited harde

pacing: not go go go, but I liked that about the books, again same flavour

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It was straight up easily consumable media popcorn and I enjoyed it. I read the first five or so of the books before Jordan's writing put me off. That said, I really enjoyed the world building he did. I thought it was pretty good and ticked a lot of boxes for me.

Sidenote: Invasion this week has a great scene with the Navy Seal. I am really enjoying the show, not as sci fi, but more of the slow burn, tension ratcheting, horror it really is. And I am a total sook when it comes to horror.

Have you ever thought about writing more pure fantasy (as opposed to Girl in Time and the Dave Hooper books)?

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