Well, today’s the official release of Empire of the Saviours in the UK (and Germany, I think). Couldn’t you tell? Didn’t you see all the omens, harbingers and heralds in the sky last night… or was that because I’d drunk too much?
Anyway, the first signing event is in Waterstones Bolton this Saturday, from 11am. And there’s a new review of the doorstop here: http://sfbook.com/empire-of-the-saviours.htm.
Worthwhile fantasy-horror movie, this one. God has lost his faith in mankind (who can blame Him, eh?). He sends a plague of demons/angels to finish us off. Good old Saint Michael the archangel rebels against ‘the big G’, however, and sides with mankind. The showdown all takes place at the ‘Paradise Falls’ diner in the USA (well, where else would you expect it to happen?). Dennis Quaid is the owner of said diner, and quite convivial until a demon starts to eat all his customers. (Yes, it becomes a bit of a zombie movie in the middle.)
Saint Michael is played by the bloke who was the naturalist in Master and Commander. Not sure what his name is, but he doesn’t do a bad job. Be warned, the film is far from perfect – the first 20mins are fairly redundant (what passes for characterisation in a Hollywood movie, methinks) and there isn’t a single joke in the whole thing (even though it’s begging for it). Oh, and of course there’s a ridiculous right-wing evangelist message throughout, but the fight between Gabriel and Saint Michael make it all forgiveable. In summary, a score of 6 out of 10 from me.
I predict a top 5 finish for the UK in this year’s Eurovision (26 May, from Baku). Engelbert Humperdink rolls back the years with a melancholic and haunting ballad. His voice is all there, the tune is deceptively simple, memorable and meaningful (with a simple guitar accompaniment, and orchestral violins in the background) and Arlene Phillips will be staging our entry! We can’t lose! No, really, we can’t lose – the UK is one of the funding countries for the event, so we are never relegated, you see.
Apparently, the ever youthful Engelbert has toured all over Europe in the last year or so. He’s been wooing and wowing the crowds, so we could run away with it. Check out the video here:
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=49523&_t=love_will_set_you_free_for_the_united_kingdom
Review of Empire of the Saviours on the ‘I Will Read Books’ site. What can I say? Erik’s a man of good taste.
http://www.iwillreadbooks.com/2012/04/empire-of-saviours-j-dalton.html
Pablo Cheesecake has done a tasty review of Empire of the Saviours, here:
http://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2012/04/13/empire-of-the-saviours-by-a-j-dalton/
Cool review of Empire of the Saviours in this month’s SciFi Now magazine. It’s pretty fair really, although I’m pretty sure they meant to give me five stars instead of four.
I’ve signed with the Hanbury Literary Agency, who represented JG Ballard back in the day. He did Empire of the Sun, Crash, etc. They also represent Katie Price.
Oo, and more signing events being confirmed. Got one for Waterstones Warrington (old and favoured stomping ground) on 2 June 2012. Might line up Bolton for the official launch, 18 May.
A decent enough adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs’s scifi books set on Mars. Despite what other reviews might say, it’s not all that derivative. You might say the aliens are a bit ‘Avatar’, but this is a grittier and more convincing Avatar. You might say there are hints of Dune, but that’s never a bad thing, eh? Overall, there’s enough levity in the script and enough of an epic feel to make it worth a watch.
That being said, it’s far from perfect. The romance at the heart of it is from a bygone, more patriarchal era. The first 30mins are unweildy. And there are a good few moments of naffness. Some of the actors take themselves far too seriously, and just look silly in their martian garb. In fact, the CGI aliens are more realistic than the human actors. The actor who plays John Carter seems obsessed with being a brooding Johnny Depp, rather than displaying anything braver. Shame.
Saving graces, then? There is an interesting paradigm whereby both sides in any war are considered guilty. There is an interesting approach taken to cosmic chaos by the priestly and eternal baddies. ‘We do not destroy worlds, we simply manage their decline,’ is the refrain, or something like that. The priests are quite chilling all in all.
So what’s the plot? Hmm. John Carter, an earthling, is transported to Mars, where his physiognomy gives him superman powers. His task is to save the good city (Helium) from the bad city (Zippadeedooda). How does he do it? By halting the forced marriage of the Helium princess to the Zarathustran prince/warlord/Darth Vader wannabe. He marries her himself and that’s it. Two blokes fighting over who gets to mount the fine filly. There are even tusked warriors who go head to head in rutting fashion.
Overall, 7/10. It ain’t no Star Wars, but somehow it has a satisfying, almost nostalgic sense of the epic, where there are ‘chosen ones’ and we don’t live in a cynical after-the-finanicial-fall world. Definitely bygone era stuff.
From our guest reviewer Becky Unicorn!
Long before the start of the series, an event called “the Devil Quake” happened to the city of Shinjuku. The aftermath left the city damaged but forever changed into a city where supernatural events occurred, becoming a refuge for unusual people and creatures, a place that has literally become a law unto itself.
Yashakiden is a series of five books (the last book is being released in English this month) written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, a Japanese author that is best known for the series “Vampire Hunter D”, which is also available in English.
The series is a mix of supernatural horror and science; they are adult, containing violence and sexual scenes.
The plot of the story is about the arrival of four powerful beings to the Demon City, among these new arrivals is one called the Demon Princess, a vampire of unparalleled beauty that is determined to make the city her own for reasons yet unknown.
Their arrival is noticed by two people, a man called Setsura Aki and another called Doctor Mephisto, who is also known as the Demon Physician. These two main characters are clearly shown from the beginning as being more than human; they are inhumanly beautiful and have strange talents of their own.
The novels consist of the Demon Princess and her companions’ attempt to seize control the city and their attempts to stop her. As the novels progress, the city is brought more and more under her influence, drawing resistance both from within the city and outside it.
Hideyuki Kikuchi’s writing style (and the hard work of the translators) is really easy to sink into. His descriptions can be nearly poetic in places and when it comes to the worlds he creates he has plenty of imagination.
“Had the voice belonged to a statue, then its sculptor must have given up his soul to carve something so beautiful. A corner of his white cape was draped over his right hand, which contained all the powers of the demon world.” – Yashakiden volume1, a description of Doctor Mephisto.
The novels also contain illustrations by Jun Susmi. The line drawings are quite detailed. They have a nice style, which I think fits the style and mood of the books.
The vampires of Yashakiden are not like the vampires of Twilight or of Anne Rice, the Demon Princess doesn’t want to live alongside humans while hiding her true nature nor does she lament what she is. She views humans as creatures beneath her notice and is perfectly happy with killing those who stand in her way.
“Her eyes glittered. Her fangs scraped against her teeth. “Here.” She beckoned with her hand. “Come here. I’ll show you the most wonderful dreams. Dreams nobody else has ever seen. No need to eat anything against your liking. No need to make the beast with two backs. You need only drink from the spring of life and live forever.” – Yashakiden volume 3
Her companions are also interesting in their own light; they have their own agendas at times and each have their own abilities and powers which are used against the main characters. This varies from illusions, traps, seduction, ancient magic and creatures from myths and legends.
Fight scenes are described quite vividly and there are also modern weapons used in several scenes against the supernatural.
The main protagonists Setsura and Mephisto are not without abilities of their own. The relationship between the two characters is a strange friendship, they are willing to work together and from the outset it indicates they share a history, yet there is a sense of competition between them.
Setsura seems by nature to be kind-hearted and fairly laid back even in the face of danger, but he does have serious moments that have all the more impact due to how he acts most of the time.
Mephisto is an excellent contrast; he has an almost icy personality at times, cool and analytical. He can seem nearly inhuman as his morals tend to revolve around knowledge that can be used with regard to healing (such as examining something dangerous in order to figure out how to cure it) and removing things that are threats to said patients.
Summary: Yashakiden is a gripping read with a variety of villains and heroes with interesting techniques of their own. The writing is solid and never boring, although it does contain many adult elements.
The novels vary in page count (the first two are nearly 280 pages, the following two double the size), but never drag.
I highly recommend them. I have currently only read up to book 3 and am currently reading book4 inpreparation for the final volume.
For those who are unsure whether this series will suit their tastes, the website http://www.dmpbooks.com/books/641/ has a sample of the first book available to read.
If you like the above series by Hideyuki Kikuchi, others I recommend are;
* Demon City Shinjuku (a novel that starts before the events of Yashakiden – but its standalone and it’s not necessary to read it before Yashakiden)
* Vampire Hunter D series (at least 20 novels have been written, with up to 17 in English to date)
* A Wind Named Amnesia
* The Wicked City series
