A Bit About 2024 So Far.

2024 has been a bit more active with sci-fi.

Conventions:

Sci-Fi-Con in Randers, Denmark.

Fedcon in Bonn, Germany.

Both of these are more media based, with actors and illustrators etc visiting, and a bit less literature based, and I like both of them.

Fantasticon 2024: Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy. A bit more literature based, and writers as main guests. Of course, we talk about everything.

This year’s theme was Immortality, and there were some good presentations, one was about the Films in the Highlander series.

TV and Film:

So far this year, I have watched the film Dune 2. I like it so far, and will watch both 1 and 2 together at some stage when I have more time.

I watched the series on Netflix: The Three Body Problem, based on the book series by Chinese author Liu Cixin, a book series I read about 5 years ago, so I am familiar with the source material.

I found the TV series quite good and entertaining, and no all too far from the source material.

Activity in September and October.

I have some work to be done on the house, so have not watched etc. a large amount of scifi/fantasy.

 

A quick overview of my watcheing etc iSept/Oct 2022:

TV:

Finished “House of the Dragon (HBO), season 1, I quite like thins one, , 8/10

Finished “The Umbrella Academy”, season 3. 7/10

Finished Cobra Kai, season 5. I like it, 8/10

Finished “Rings of Power” (HBO), season 1. I do not hate it, and found it entertqaining enough 6/10

Finished “The Flash”, season 7. 7/10

 

Books(audio:

Finished “The Masterharper of Pern” by Anne McCaffrey. Love it, 8/10.

Started listening to “Dragon’s Kin” by Todd McCaffrey.

 

Activity October – December 2021.

For the first time since February 2020 it was possible to go to a convention. The Sense8Con3 is still awaiting information, but Fedcon went ahead in October 2021.

It was very good to meet old friends, even if some could be hard to recognize due to mask wearing when walking around. When sitting in a fixed place that was not mandated. The convention had what in Germany is called a 3G policy. You had to be either 1) vaccinated 2) tested negative or 3) documented recovery within the past 6 months.

This was, of course not ideal, but it beats having no convention at all.

– and now for some media stuff:

October:

I finished the Watchmen TV series (HBO) 7/10

November:

Film:

Dune (part 1) I like what they did, and I am looking forward to seeing part 2 in about two years – 8/10

TV:

Finished season 6 of Supergirl (HBO) 7/10

December:

Film:

Re-watch of the full and extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I love this 10/10

TV:

Finished Wheel of Time, season 1 (Amazon) I like it 7/10

Finished The Witcher (Netflix), season 2. I like it. 8/10

Still not too much, but other activities have taken precedence.

May/June 2021 Activity.

Here is a bit of the activities for the past few months:

Book:

Finished reading Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files #17: Battle Ground. – 8/10

Film:

Joker (Netflix) – good origin story. 8/10

TV/streaming:

Finished Upload, season 1. Good fun – 7/10

Finished The 100, season 6 – 7/10

Up-to date (end of June) with:

Legends of Tomorrow(Netflix), S6, Batwoman(HBO), S02, Superman & Lois (HBO) S01

Other activities, especially outdoor (summer) activities have taken precedence, and will do for a while yet.

March Activity.

March has been a scifi-low month. Other activities have had higher priority.

One book read: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files: Peace Talks.

Since the vaccination has reached maximum protection I may re-start some video meetings soon. That depends on the vaccination status of the few people I intend to meet.

Audio Book: Terry Pratchett: Mort.

This is my first Pratchett book. I have been recommended to read (in this case listen to) Terry Pratchett from several people. Now I got started.

Mort is a story in the Disc World series. (Audio book).

Mort, a young boy is searching for an apprenticeship, as he is at the coming-of-age stage in his life. There is a special day for that in his society. All of the day passes, and he still has not found it. Just before the end of the day, he is approached by an odd looking person. Yes, it turns out to be Death, wanting an apprentice.

Of course, not everything is as expected, Death has a daughter, and an assistant. After a while Mort is sent out to do Death’s work, and, of course his humanity is getting in the way.

In the end, he actually does get a second chance for life.

I like the quirky humour of Pratchett, it is not hilarious, making me laugh out loud, but it often gives me a chuckle.

I do want to get a bit more into Pratchett’s work, given the time to do it, and I will rate Mort at:

8/10

 

TV: His Dark Materials, Season 1.

I have just watched the season 1 finale of the TV adaptation of Pullman’s His Dark Materials.

This is excellent fantasy on TV. Here is my quick review:

Lyra sets out on a quest to find other missing children. A story of fanaticism, multiple worlds, armoured bears and, of course, betrayal.

I liked this quite a bit, and I want to revisit it, especially when new season(s) come, and my quick rating is:

9/10

Lord Of The Rings: Books Vs Films (Theatrical Releases).

While traveling earlier this year, I have been listening to the Lord of the Rings book trilogy on audio. Excellent reading by Rob Ingliss.
Further, because they were available on Netflix, recently I re-watched the three movies of the theatrical releases.
Previously I have watched the extended editions, too, but they are not in my recent memory.

Here is my impressions of the releases, for the moment:

I have loved the books since I first read them, first in Danish, then in English. This happened in the 1980s, and for a while I read all three books every year or two.
This means that when I first saw the films at their release around 2000, I could easily compare the films and the books, in relation to what was included in the films, and what was changed.
While I can understand the need to remove some parts of the books in order to fit the rather massive story into about 3×3 hours, it does result in some flaws in the films. Here are a few examples:

From the first film/book: Fellowship of the Ring:
– when I first saw the movie, I was wondering if I had missed a part of it. The hobbits were fleeing the Black Rider, crossing the Brandywine river in the ferry boat, and suddenly they were at the gate in Bree. No unmasking of the “conspiracy”, no Old Forest, no Tom Bombadil, and no finding their weapons in the Barrow Downs.
I might have accepted missing Tom Bombadil, but the swords found at the Barrow Downs are significant at a later stage: The sword that Merry receives at that point is the one that can destroy a ring wraith. Now this just happens with no explanation at all. It is not even mentioned in Rivendell, where Elrond *could* have explained the significance of the sword.
– I can accept the merging of the characters of Glorfindel and Arwen, if only for the Arwen/Aragorn part of the story. Also, it does not really detract from the main story.
– also, though it is kind of spoilery, I can accept the beginning of the movie, providing the back story of the Ring.

From Book 2: The Two Towers:
– parts of the orc hunt and Merry and Pippin’s experience with the orcs and Treebeard have been cut, but it does work.
– The arrival of the elves at Helm’s Deep was confusing, having read the books, but I can see that it would not be so, if someone is watching the films alone.

From Book 3: Return of the King:
– Elrond coming to see Aragorn at Helm’s Deep is a change that becomes rather inconsistent with the books, and made little sense to me.
– A large part of the story is completely missing, especially there is absolutely nothing about meeting Saruman on the way home, and having to deal with him in the Shire when they arrive home. Everything is just unchanged when they return to the Shire. I consider this a significant part of the story, because it shows how the hobbits have grown since the start of their journey.
These are just examples of changes to the story, there is much more, but it will have to do for now.

Did I enjoy the films? YES! I did, they still have excellent changes form the beautiful to the horrific, just like the books. The landscapes they film in are magnificent (I would like to visit some of those places). The moods in the films are excellent, as are the vast majority of the characters.

I still find that the films have a strong emotional effect. Maybe this is because I know the books so well.
I love the cinematography and the music used, and I am aware that the films could not have been made at all before their time, because the technology to make the effects did not exist.

So yes, despite the flaws I see, I like the films quite a bit.

Here is how I would rate the films and the books:

1) Theatrical versions: 8/10
2) Extended versions: 9/10
3) Books: 10/10

I am aware that I need to re-watch the extended versions again some time, but not just now.

The Order, TV Series.

I just finished watching the first season of the Netflix original series, The Order.

I was well enough entertained to follow through with the whole season. It is, however, not the strongest of the Netflix originals I have seen.

I found the characters OK, and the story line a little bit generic. I was well enough entertained, so the rating of the season is an average 7/10.

Watched and Read, March to June.

The watching and reading has been reduced a bit due to other activities, so here are 3 months worth:

Finished:

Supergirl, season 4, 8/10

Berlin Station (spy thriller), season 1, 5/10 with a friend

Black Lightning, season 2, 8/10

Star Trek Discovery, season 2, 8/10

Shadow Hunters, season 4 (aka. 3a), 7/10

Magicians, season 4, 8/10

Highlander, season 2, 7/10

Sense8 re-watch, except final episode, 10/10

Game of Thrones, season 8, 8/10

The Scorpion, season 1, 7/10

The OA, part 2 8/10

Films:

The Matrix (re-watch), 8/10

Matrix Reloaded, 7/10

Matrix Revolutions, 7/10,

as part of me watching more by the Wachowskis

Partly watched:

Jeremiah, season 1, with a friend (the show disappeared from HBO Nordic, but I managed to find both seasons on a DVD set (Rather expensive, but I wanted it anyway))

The Americans, season 6, with a friend

Legends of Tomorrow (not yet finished)

Started Cloak & Dagger, season 2

Started Roswell, New Mexico (2019 version), but did not get very far. It did not catch on too well in the first few episodes

 

Read: Finished “The Broken Earth” trilogy by N.K. Jemisin I like that very much, 9/10