Legends of Tomorrow 4x01-05

I don’t think I’ve ever written about Legends of Tomorrow before, so let me start this review with a little confession: it is my favourite Arrowverse show, and no one is more surprised by that than I am. For starters, I only started watching it for two, maybe three reasons: Arthur Darvill, Sara Lance, and to not miss out on any lore-building or continuity nods to the other shows (which, back then, were only Arrow, which I loved, and The Flash, which I liked quite a bit, but not enough to get all the hype for it). What’s more, I couldn’t stand Ray Palmer on Arrow (seriously, I even listed him as one of the many things that ruined season 3 for me), and I wasn’t at all interested in Captain Cold or Heatwave either: they were, in my opininon, unfairly lauded boring, one-note villains, just like every single other villain of the week on The Flash. So pretty much EVERYTHING was against Legends when it started, and season 1 didn’t inspire too much confidence either. But along the way, things started to shift imperceptibly. Ray became insanely likable, Snart and Rory were expanded and built upon as characters I could actually care about, and when season 2 got rid off all the deadweight and introduced Nate and Amaya to the cast, well, that was pretty much it. Couple that with Arrow’s increasingly dark storylines and stagnating quality, The Flash becoming pretty repetitive, as well as Supergirl’s subpar debut season, and Legends quickly became one of the shows I most looked forward to every week.

The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky - John Hornor Jacobs (2018)

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. Cosmic horror as a genre intrigues me because I think the fear of the unknown (and what lurks beneath) is so deeply entrenched in all human beings that, if done right, such a work can evoke emotions stronger than any psychological or gore-based horror novel ever could. That is why I’m so confused about and disappointed in this book, because at its most basic it had everything to tell an absolutely terrifying story, but instead it chose to meander and not say or do anything meaningful with the groundwork it laid for itself.

All of this is pretty confusing without mentioning some specifics, so I will try to do so without really spoiling anything. The two main characters are exiles from a fictional South American country that has been torn apart by rebellion and the subsequent rise to power of a military dictatorship. At first I didn’t understand the author’s decision to invent a such country when there are so many where such a thing actually happened in real life, but over the course of the book I came to appreciate the additional layer of otherworldliness this choice has added to the story. Our protagonist, Isabel, befriends Rafael, a mysterious poet from her home country, who eventually leaves his comfortable life in Spain to go home and search for his lost family, which leaves Isabel in charge of his apartment. There she discovers a written account of his friend’s former life, and the strange and more than a little distrubing path that led to his exile. This is where the horror elements really start to come into play, not only through the vivid descriptions of torture he has endured at the hands of his captors, but also through the interwoven story of his attempts to translate an old manuscript. For some reason his captors are really interested in this piece of work, in fact they even suggest that him taking it on was what drew them to him in the first place. Naturally, Isabel finds the manuscript and begins to work on her own translation, which is when she is forced to realize that Rafael is not safe back home and she decides to go and find him.

Sounds pretty amazing, right? Spooky, mysterious, bone-chilling even, thanks to Rafael’s memoir (you’ll see what I mean when you read it), this is the groundwork I was referring to earlier. Everything is in place for a spectacular conclusion where we finally get our answers for all the important questions, such as: Who are these people? What do they want with the manuscript? What IS the manuscript? What cosmic powers are at play here? Well, we never find out any of that. The ending of this book is a confusing mess, at least for me. I realize that so far I will be the only one giving it less than four stars, and I could praise the writing style and the character of Rafael (not Isabel, who was pretty bland in my opinion) as reasons why I liked the book overall – and I did, in a way, because it had beautiful imagery and kept me interested until the very end. But it had the potential to be so much more, and while I’m generally not opposed to open endings (sometimes I even like the whole „decide for yourself what happened after” approach), there was not even remotely enough material here for me to come up with anything that makes sense.

The Walking Dead 9x06 Who Are You Now?

Generally, I’m not a big fan of time jumps. I hate the feeling of missing out on potentially important developments concerning my favourite characters or couples (you hear that OUAT season 4? Those six fictional months were really important to me), and it’s even riskier when there’s such a big jump that characters invariably have to be recast with actors who will fit their new ages better. You can tell me that it’s the same character all you want, but if the new actors’s not good enough, I simply won’t feel about them the same way ever again. On the other hand, I will admit that sometimes it’s worth to have a time jump for all the new mysteries such a big change could bring (wait, when did that happen? Why are they not talking to each other? Oooh something BIG must have went down, I can’t wait to find out what!)… except when you have insufferable showrunners who handwave it all away with „oh you know, time has passed, people change, you’ll get used to it”… and then that’s another whole new kind of feeling fucked over. So with all that said, I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed The Walking Dead’s first post-time jump episode! By jumping forward a whopping six years, I was spared from having my heart broken from watching Michonne’s fresh grief over Rick’s „death”, which I appreciate a lot. Moreover, the only character who had to be recast was Judith, and her new version is wonderful so far, and there was even a little bit of mystery peppered in, although this is not necessarily the kind of show where I expect that sort of thing. So it was great! Overall I’m still surprised by how much I’m loving this season, and I’m a bit sad we only have two more episodes to go before the winter break.

The Walking Dead 9x05 What Comes After

 

Well that was… an episode. I’m not sure what I expected since it’s been known for a while that it would be a kind of flashback/hallucination episode leading up to Rick’s departure, but was it wrong of me to want a little more out of it? Not more action, necessarily… in fact, I’m kinda loving how lowkey and subdued this season has been so far. It’s been nine years, I don’t crave outrageously gory zombie slaughter every second episode anymore. I like heartfelt conversations and small but meaningful character moments just as much. So was that the problem? That Rick spent his last remaining moments on the show conversing with dead people, instead of getting some closure with his loved ones? Nope. For me, the problem lies in the very fact that this was Rick’s last episode, or more accurately, the fact that I knew this was his last episode. How am I expected to enjoy anything about it when I know that whatever happens, by the end of it Rick will be gone? I guess I could say props to everyone involved for still managing to make it somewhat suspenseful, but that’s hardly consoling. Like, can you imagine the absolute gut-punch this episode could have been if they had kept Rick’s exit a secret? I know I complained about this before but it’s something that’s on my mind a lot, and not just regarding TWD. Generally, I would prefer never to know when an actor is about to leave a show. I want to be surprised and outraged, dammit, not just mildly sad when it finally happens after half a year of knowing it would.

Top Ten Tuesday 11.06. - Backlist Books I Want to Read

It’s Top Ten Tuesday Time! This was a bit of a tricky topic for me because I wasn’t sure how to interpret the word ’backlist’ at first, and usually just thinking about the books I said I would read but then never got around to it is enough to give me a mild headache. Also since I have way too many unread books both on my Kindle and my Goodreads To Read List, so many it would be impossible to choose just ten of them, I decided to narrow the scope down to „Ten Books Released Earlier in 2018 that I Want to Read Before the Year Ends”. Even that should be difficult enough, not only to select but to actually read... I should really learn the art of selecting a book to read and then actually fucking reading it, is what I’m trying to say. Anyway, here’s my list, you guys! Let me know what you think about any of my choices in the comments.

1. In Byron’s Wake – Miranda Seymour

Lord Byron is one of my favourite poets, and I’ve always found his daughter, Ada Lovelace, to be a fascinating woman. This book promises to teach me more about not only her but her mother too, and I’m here for it.

2. Legendary (Caraval, #2) – Stephanie Garber 
Caraval was one of my favourite books of last year, and I was eager to read its sequel when it came out in the spring... and then I didn’t. Typical. I still really want to, though! 

3. The Romanov Empress - C.W. Gortner

I discovered this book after reading Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking, and I was hoping it would be about Alix, but it turns out the Empress in question here is her mother-in-law. That’s cool with me, too! The more historical figures I can learn about, the better.

4. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - Hank Green 
I read two John Green books so far, one I hated with a burning passion but the other I liked, so I’m still undecided as to how I feel about him as a writer. Now it’s his brother’s turn to amaze me, and I kind of want to love this book. 

5. A Keeper – Graham Norton
I’ve been watching Graham Norton every week for the last four years or so, and I didn’t have any idea that he was also a writer. I expect his book to be as fantastic as his interviews always are.

6. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock – Imogen Hermes Gowar

I'll be honest, I don't even remember what this book is about, but it's been on my To Read for ages, and since then it's generated incredible buzz, so now I'm more eager than ever to finally read it. 

7. I Was Anastasia - Ariel Lawhon

The second Romanov book on my list, this time about a more well-known subject. And yet, I'm not exactly sure what this book will be about. Will it acknowledge "Anna Anderson" as an impostor, or will it be more of a "what if?", historical fantasy kind of approach where she really is Anastasia? I'll have to read it to find out.

8. Lady Mary – Lucy Worsley

I adore Lucy Worsley’s TV documentaries, but I’ve never read anyhing she’s written. I think it’s high time I remedy that, and a novel about the breakdown of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon’s marriage narrated by their daughter, the future Mary I, sounds like an excellent place to start. Plus, it was published on my birthday. Better late than never to read it then! 

9. The French Revolution – Stephen Clarke

Stephen Clarke's 1000 Years of Annoying the French is one of my favourite books of all time, so much so that it's barely ever left my bedside since I brought it about eight years ago. I'm not even exaggerating, it's right here next to me this very moment. For some reason, though, I've never read anything else he's written.

10. Meet Me at the Museum - Anne Youngson

This is supposed to be a love story that somehow involves the Tollund Man, and I'm all about him and other bog bodies ever since I wrote my MA thesis on Seamus Heaney's bog poems. Bring on the museum romance!

+1 The Secret Language of Cats: How to Understand Your Cat for a Better, Happier Relationship – Susanne Schotz

This book is coming out exactly today! So it is a bit like cheating to include it on my list, but I couldn’t help it. I adore cats, and although I never had any of my own, I know that I absolutely will one day. It’s out of the question that I won’t. In the meantime, I’m okay with familiarizing with all the strays in the neighbourhood, and reading this book to make sure I don’t fuck up with any of them.

You 1x09 Candace

I expected this episode to be momentous ever since I looked through the upcoming episode titles like two months ago, and boy did it deliver! True, we didn’t meet Candace in the present day just so she could deliver some shocking truths to Beck like I originally expected we would, and neither did we really find out what happened to her - that’s the job of next week’s episode, I guess – but so much else happened in these forty minutes that I almost don’t mind any of that.

The Walking Dead 9x03 Warning Signs

Going into the new season of a beloved TV show knowing that not only one, but two of your favourite characters will be gone by the end is tough. If it was up to me, I would forbid actors and writers to spoil things like this beforehand, because really, what’s the point? Don’t you want your audience to be surprised and outraged when it happens? That’s like the best part of watching any TV show: the fucking plot twists. And while killing off Rick Grimes might not have been such a big twist four seasons ago, it damn well it is NOW. For my part I always thought Rick would die eventually and Carl would take over his legacy, but now that Carl is dead, Rick might as well be invincible… and THAT’S why it would have been the mother of all surprises if he just… died. And then Andrew Lincoln would have been like „Guess what my dudes, I knew this would happen a year ago when I quit my job, but I kept it a secret for all these months because I didn’t want to spoil it for you”. Wouldn’t that have been neat? I can’t believe they cheated me out of it.

Babel: Around the World in Twenty Languages - Gaston Dorren (2018)

As an amateur language enthusiast/wannabe polyglot, a book like this is heaven for me. I’m constantly in the mood for starting to learn a new language, and then I never actually do it, but I have plans, you see. Before reading this book, my plans were, in a nutshell: touch up (basically re-learn) my German and my Spanish, really lay into my Swedish (so that I won’t start forgetting it like the other two), and start either Welsh, Russian, French, Finnish, or maybe all of them at the same time, who cares, languages are fun! Then I read this book and basically it went like this:

Chapter 20: Oh hell Vietnamese seems really interesting! Sure all those diacritics look complicated as hell but it makes the language look so fun, and it would be way more unique to learn Vietnamese than Mandarin. Might give this a look later.

Chapter 19: I never in my life thought about learning Korean but now that I’m reading about it, I’m loving this concept of ’ideophones’ (basically words that imply their meaning just by how they sound, kind of like onomatopoeias but not exactly). Maybe it would be worth a try?

Chapter 17: Turkey and Hungary have a lot of history together, so I already knew that we have a lot of loanwords from Turkish, but somehow I never thought about how much easier that could make learning the whole language. Plus, I do want to go to Istanbul at one point, so maybe it’s not such a crazy idea.

Chapter 13: Japanese used to be on my list back when I was briefly really into anime (I know, typical), and I never completely lost my interest in the language, even though now I only occasionally watch anime. I never knew about this really werid distinction between male and female Japanese, however, and that seems like the kind of challenge I would like to take on. Maybe I should put it back on my list.

Chapter 8: Russian was already on my list but this chapter was one of my favourites. I love etymology, and this short breakdown of how some complicated-looking Russian words actually have cognates in English was brilliant, and it only reinforced my belief that I need to learn Russian one of these days.

Chapter 6: Both the look of Bengali and its system of indicating vowels by attaching different tiny marks onto its consonents remind me of Sindarin. If I ever bring myself to learn an Indian language, I’m now almost certain it’s gonna be Bengali.

Chapter 5: The chapter about Arabic was actually a short dictionary of loanwords that made it into English, but I made tons of notes about words that are even more apparent in Hungarian. For example, the Arabic word for parrot is apparently ’babagá’, which somehow morphed into ’popinjay’. But in Hungarian, parrot is actually ’papagáj’, which is much more similar. Same with kahwa – coffee – kávé, and a few others I can’t recall right now. Did I mention I love etymology?

Chapter 2: Yep, Mandarin is exactly as complicated as I suspected. But I got enamored by the part about compound characters, how one half of them is a clue about meaning and the other about pronunciation. It makes learning the characters a bit like solving riddles, and I love a good riddle.

So yeah. It was a journey, with a lot maybes and mights in there, and I know myself well enough to know that there’s a 90% chance nothing will ever come of this. But that doesn’t make my time reading this book any less meaningful or amazing. Even if I don’t actually learn any of these langauges, I sure learned a lot about them from Gaston Dorren’s Babel.

You 1x07 Everythingship

Things have improved a lot for Joe Goldberg in the past couple episodes. Not only did he manage to convince Beck to give him a chance, he also eliminated his last remaining rival for her affections, her best friend Peach. Of course, getting rid of Peach didn’t magically make all his problems go away, as any sane person could have told him if only he asked for a second opinion. Murder is very rarely the answer, Joe! But at least it did take the show to some previously unexplored places, for example we got to see Joe and Beck spend some quality time together that was not constantly interrupted by her other jealous psycho stalker. Things were only perfect for a short time, though, as Beck grew increasingly resentful of Joe just… being there for her. If Joe was anyone other than you, you know… himself… I would actually feel bad for him. As it is, I spent a good chunk of this episode gleefully cackling. Finally, he has all he’s ever wanted – that is, Beck all to himself – and she’s ruining it. Fantastic. I truly love this new development.

American Horror Story 8x04 Could It Be... Satan?

 

If you, like me, were starting to get this deep, sinking feeling in your stomach about halfway through the premiere of AHS: Apocalypse, that you and everyone else are about to see your hopes crushed when it’s going to be revealed that the so-called „Murder House/Coven crossover” storyline was supposed to be taken metaphorically… You know, because the season is gonna take place in something like a coven/secret society, but there are also ghosts and shit like in Murder House, but no actual characters from those seasons were ever gonna show up… Well now you can breathe again because nope, the witches are finally here!