Constance

tags: clones, mystery

⭐

from GoodReads

In the near future, advances in medicine and quantum computing make human cloning a reality. For the wealthy, cheating death is the ultimate luxury. To anticloning militants, it’s an abomination against nature. For young Constance “Con” D’Arcy, who was gifted her own clone by her late aunt, it’s terrifying.

After a routine monthly upload of her consciousness—stored for that inevitable transition—something goes wrong. When Con wakes up in the clinic, it’s eighteen months later. Her recent memories are missing. Her original, she’s told, is dead. If that’s true, what does that make her?

The secrets of Con’s disorienting new life are buried deep. So are those of how and why she died. To uncover the truth, Con is retracing the last days she can recall, crossing paths with a detective who’s just as curious. On the run, she needs someone she can trust. Because only one thing has become clear: Con is being marked for murder—all over again.

The book is one of Amazon's First Reads choices and as expected, it is disappointing. The book is touted as science fiction and thriller but I find there's very little science fiction besides the cloning of the rich people who can afford it. The novel is nothing but a mediocre murder mystery with mediocre writing.

The premise is intriguing but the author does not deliver. On top of that he insists in making it annoying mentioning the ethnicity of ALL the characters, major and those who appeared just once. Who writes like that? It's distracting and does not add anything to the story except the author appears to be trying hard to sell this book to woke Hollywood hoping it will get noticed because it is populated by the obligatory "diverse" characters. Give me a freakin' break. My new pet peeve in modern fiction that I find more awful than f and c bombs. And the clones? Forgeddaboutit! The ending reads like a chaotic slapstick comedy trying hard to be serious. And the worst part is, this is book 1 of a series. Yikes! This novel is one big Con job. Sorry, I couldn't resist. 😉

Not recommended.

Blood Red Sky

 

tags: German movie, horror, Netflix streaming, thriller, vampires

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

When a group of terrorists hijacks an overnight transatlantic flight, a mysterious ill woman must unleash a monstrous secret to protect her young son

I watched without any idea what the movie is about. But the #1 rating on Netflix got me curious. Foreign language movies hardly get the number one position for several days on Netflix and now I understand why. It is bloody entertaining and I liked it. The story of airplane hijackers mixed with vampires is very creative IMHO. The hijackers are shown to be more horrific and inhumane than the vampire who for many years has maintained part of her humanity because she has a son to take care of. What comes next after the announcement of hijacking is naturally predictable - vampires on a plane. 

It is a tad long at 2 hours and the boy who was getting on my nerves became even more annoying on the last third, never listening to his mother, but it is part of the story which made sense at the end. Acting is okay and the movie won't win any awards but surprisingly gratifying. 

Recommended for horror fans. German and English languages.

  

Kingdom: Ashin Of The North

tags: fantasy, Kingdom series side story, Korean, Netflix streaming, revenge, sageuk, zombies

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from AsianWiki

Kingdom: Ashin of the North reveals the origin of the resurrection plant and the mystery behind Ashin’s identity.

South Korea has perfected the zombie genre starting with Train To Busan and the Netflix series Kingdom, seasons 1 and 2, a zombie sageuk (historical drama). Kingdom: Ashin Of The North released today is a side story revealing the origin of the plant and the zombies.

The resurrection plant that brings dead people back to life is used by Ashin, who appeared at the end of season 2, to avenge the death of her family and her tribe. Ashin is played by My Sassy Girl herself Jun Ji-Hyun (Gianna Jun). Best revenge and zombie mash-up movie and that zombie tiger is awesome. I hope there is a season 3 with Ashin and the crown prince.

Recommended for Korean drama and zombie fans.

Wisting

tags: Nordic series, police procedural

🥚 goose egg

from IMDB

Homicide detective William Wisting struggles with the two toughest cases of his career. His serial killer investigation crosses paths with his journalist daughter's news story, putting her in grave danger. When Wisting is accused of evidence tampering in a former case, his entire career is in jeopardy.

10 episodes, 40 - 45 minutes 

I like a few Nordic Noir movies and TV series and enjoyed the original Wallander but all the subsequent police procedural series coming from that region seem to be clones of Wallander. This latest series is the most boring yet and all the characters look like they are "acting". I read that this series is the most expensive series co-produced by 3 European countries. They should have spent the money on a good script and competent director. Cinematography alone won't carry a lousy story with sub par actors. It tries to be noir but I see it as a noir wannabe.

The actor playing the main character Wisting is ugly as sin with no charisma whatsoever and the series is partially ruined by the idiot daughter. This [grieving] father-daughter theme is done to death already and somebody should put an end to it. 

I could probably have ignored the annoying daughter but the story of an American serial killer in Norway with American FBI characters helping the police turned it into another pointless American-style woke police show. So I dropped it like a hot potato. Carrie-Ann Moss of The Matrix as one of the FBI agents is a lousy actress and she is not aging well. She's never been easy on the eyes but here she looks like a haggard grandma in need of a day in the spa. The obligatory black actor as the other FBI agent is not a good actor as well. 

Not recommended. You'll be wasting money or borrows from Hoopla.

Ravens Of Eternity

Recommended reading for sci-fi space opera fans via Amazon Kindle Vella - Ravens of Eternity

tags: mecha, series, space opera, space battles, strong female lead

from Amazon Kindle Vella

A young woman is reborn anew inside Bellum Aeterna, a mecha VRMMO embroiled in galactic warfare, and must rise above the failings of her old life or be lost forever. As she ascends, a spreading darkness threatens to tear her galaxy apart.

Read the serialized story here.

I am a fan of sci-fi space operas and have read and own several books. Although I prefer already finished books and am not into serialized stories, I like it and will continue reading not just because this series is written by my son 😉😉😉 but I find it an interesting read.

The Bride Of Lammermoor

tags: classics, gothic, historical fiction, romance, Scotland, tragedy

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

This is a story of national change and personal tragedy. For Lucy Ashton and Edgar Ravenswood, acts of heroism are thwarted and love is doomed by social, political and historical division. This edition restores the action to the years of uncertainty and political flux before the Union of Scotland and England in 1707.

The opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti is based on this tragic story, a la Romeo and Juliet, of 17 year old Lucy Ashton and 20 year old Edgar Ravenswood, The Bride Of Lammermoor written by Sir Walter Scott. Scott has said that the story is based on a true story which is included in the book as a Preface. The true story is as interesting and tragic as the fictional novel. The book is short at 350+ pages and will be worth your time reading. I was surprised that the doomed story of Lucy and Edgar does not take up the whole book, just a part of it, but essential to the narrative. 

Watch the opera first, then read the book, read the true story last. 

**************************************************************************

The aria il dolce suono became one of the more popular soprano arias

after the release of the movie The Fifth Element. The aria is performed by the character Plavalaguna, sung by Albanian soprano Inva Mula Tchako. Inva Mula has the perfect voice for the aria. 

The Diva Dance 

Major Grom: Plague Doctor

tags: action, Netflix streaming, revenge, Russian movie, super hero

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

When a masked vigilante’s killing spree throws a city into chaos, a renegade detective and his rookie partner are the only ones who can stop it.

The movie is an adaptation of a Russian comic book super hero. It is loaded with clichés and borrows from other comic book super heroes like Batman. I liked it regardless of its length. Cinematography is very good. Most important no "woke" Hollywood nonsense. Just good vs evil action movie. I hope there will be a sequel.

Note: The title at first confused me and I thought Major Grom is the Plague Doctor. Major Grom is a cop and the Plague Doctor is Major Grom's brilliant but insane vengeful foe.

Highly recommended.

The Tomorrow War

Tags: aliens, Amazon original, streaming, horror, sci-fi, time travel

⭐

from Amazon

Time travelers arrive from 2051 to deliver an urgent message: 30 years in the future mankind is losing war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians to be transported to the future and join the fight.

Just say NO to this rubbish disguised as a movie which is blah and has nothing new to offer in this genre. Dreadful in everything - acting, script, CGI. I tried to watch the whole thing but couldn't continue torturing myself. 

Amazon streaming has been coming out with original programming but I never found a single movie or series that is appealing to me. This is the first movie that made me click on it because it's Sci-Fi and Chris Pratt is on it. Chris Pratt is a lousy lousy lousy actor. He can only do Star Lord and nothing else.

IMHO foreign language Sci-Fi movies and TV series are superior to this Hollywood produced wokest movie yet and I was scratching my head thinking why Chris Pratt signed up for this. Maybe he has career suicidal tendencies or was given tons of cash. Wrong move Chris. I hope he chooses a better project next time.

Do yourself a favor - skip this nonsense and keep your IQ points as a bonus. Re-watch Edge Of Tomorrow instead. You'll thank me.

The Hidden Palace

tags: fantasy, favorites, golem, historical fiction, jinni

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from GoodReads

Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a perpetually restless and free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and pretend to be human—just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Having encountered each other under calamitous circumstances, Chava and Ahmad’s lives are now entwined—but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other.

Each has unwittingly affected the humans around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele—not knowing that she’s about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector.

Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interweave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart—especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

I waited 8 long years for this sequel to one of my favorite fantasy novels and it is worth the wait. Chava and Ahmad spend their time bickering and start doing things separately. When Ahmad's only friend and business partner Arbeely dies, he holes himself up in their building for more than 3 years forging and constructing a 4 story steel spiral staircase with glass landings. He doesn't go out and nobody has seen him nor the inside of his building, the neighbors are getting worried.

Chava leaves the bakery where she teaches newly hired bakers. When the people around her who don't know she is a golem notice that she doesn't age, she leaves the bakery and attends college. She changes her name to Charlotte Levy and starts working as a teacher at the Asylum for Hebrew Orphans. 

Highly recommended for fans of the first book, The Golem And The Jinni.

Silver Skates

tags: fairy tale, Netflix streaming, romance, Russian

⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

On the frozen rivers and canals of St. Petersburg, a petty thief on skates warms the heart of an aristocrat's daughter as forces try to keep them apart.

The description from Netflix is a bit lacking and inaccurate. This Russian movie is a fairy tale with a twist - it is a rich girl, poor boy romance instead of the usual beautiful princess rescued by a handsome prince. Matvey, the poor boy, works delivering pastry using his antique pair of skates but gets fired through no fault of his. His father is a lamplighter who is sick with consumption.

The setting is at the turn of the 19th century and the frozen St. Petersburg is transformed into a pretty Winter Wonderland where people go to walk about and shop. A group of pickpockets skates around and deftly dispossesses the unsuspecting people of their treasures including pocket watches and billfolds. The leader, who reminds me of The Artful Dodger, drops a watch while being pursued by a gendarme. . Matvey tries to return it to him not knowing he stole it. He gets recruited to the group to earn money for his father's hospital treatment. 

He meets the aristocrat's daughter, Alice, on a dare from his new friends. They meet again at St. Petersburg while he was busy "working". Alice befriends him for her own reasons. As the story progresses, one needs to suspend disbelief but it is a fairy tale after all. Besides, I'm sure you'll love the superb cinematography and lush costumes, and the scenes of the skating thieves are beautiful to watch. 

Language is mostly in Russian, some English, and French. Russian and French dialog have English subtitles, English has none. There are subtitles in CC English.